


Follow Your Heart.

by LoverOfCoffee



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-15
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-01 01:57:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 35,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11476182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoverOfCoffee/pseuds/LoverOfCoffee
Summary: Beca was slowly becoming friends with the Bella's rival Calamity and the Bella's aren't exactly pleased by the new friendship, in particular, Chloe. But will Chloe or Beca finally admit their feelings towards one another?





	1. Chapter 1

Beca wasn't exactly sure how it happened, she guessed it was because they had a similar sense of humour, they had dived into music, ignoring what their parents had wanted for them and the fact that Calamity was a bitch, but one that Beca found amusing. But suddenly, her and Calamity had become friends, she'd always thought the band would just be another bunch of DSM's, snarky attitude, making fun of them, although they had done that when they first met them, calling what they did karaoke. But it simmered down soon enough and Beca and the leader Calamity ended up bonding over the idiocy of bosses. Beca knew full well that The Bella's didn't approve of her being friends with one of their _enemies_ , but Beca just shrugged it off, as much as she loved the girls, she was actually happy with a friendship outside her group, it was different. The USO's were still weeks away, giving The groups time to interact with one another, although Aubrey's father was demanding, bossing them around like the military soldiers he bossed around everyday, Beca could see why Aubrey was the way she is, is her father was anything like hers she'd have run away years ago.

Like now for instance, they were all lined up in their army jumpsuits, name tags stitched on as though they were really soldiers, the formation from tallest to smallest, meaning Beca was near last beside Flo. Then Aubrey's father barked orders at them, which Beca was sure had popped her ear drum, she grumbled to Flo that the other groups didn't have to do this and Aubrey's father must've had super-hearing because his head snapped towards her making the line of Bella's freeze in nerves as her father began to yell.

"Do you think this is all for nothing, Mitchell? Do you think my training isn't helping your little singing group?" He yelled, his voice low yet booming, she could understand why he was a general. Beca shrugged, her hands still together behind her back like the others.

"Well-"

" _Beca!_ " Aubrey hissed down the line, eyes flickering nervously at her father, Beca could tell she was scared, something she never saw from Aubrey and Beca gulped. Letting her eyes drift back to the generals, hesitant on what to say next, she couldn't be ungrateful seem as he was the one that was going to get them into the USO's.

"Sorry, of course this is helping." Beca said, doing her best not to sound sarcastic but it didn't seem to work because he marched straight up to his face, spitting as he spoke making Beca cringe in disgust.

"Is that sarcasm I can detect?!"

Beca snapped back this time, fury flaring in her eyes, fists clenched. "Dude, _no!_ Lay off, I'm not one of your little soldiers!" Her words seemed to take the general by surprise, she heard Aubrey let out a small _"Oh no_. _"_ And Beca wondered if she'd made the right decision, but she just really hated when people got up in her face, but she folded her arms and kept her stance. She wasn't a soldier so she wasn't going to be treated like one. Flo had gone small beside her, edging away as though he was going to attack Beca at any minute but Beca glared. "I'm hungry and we've been out here for like an hour, so may I be excused?"

The general looked like someone had tore down his entire leadership, he glanced at his right hand soldier to see if he had been watching, which they all knew he had but the moment the general looked at him his eyes fixed forward. Remaining in silence as the older man looked back to Beca, everything still tense. And he stood straight, looking at all of the Bella's ignoring Beca. "You may remove yourself from the line and don't expect further training."

Beca let out a breath, breaking her stance and stepping out of the line, heading past the other girls muttering a "Thank god for that." And pausing as she walked towards Chloe, the girls eyebrows creased in worry as she looked at the small brunette before her and Beca gave her arm a small squeeze and a little smile. "I'll see you later, I'll work on the choreography while I wait." Beca startled when Chloe broke her stance then, something Beca thought Aubrey would scold her for doing but Chloe's baby blues eyes were wide, her hand now resting on Beca's arm as Beca's rested on hers.

"No!" Chloe said a little too quick making Beca's eyebrows raise and Chloe felt her cheeks burn. "No, I want us to work on that together...just...eat lunch and I'll be a quick as possible." 

Beca didn't bother questioning her, she liked spending time with Chloe anyway so she just nodded, "Alright then, well I guess I'll see you guys later." Beca smiled to them, releasing her hold on Chloe as she stepped out of Chloe's touch and headed off in the direction of the main building where she knew they'd be serving lunch. She could feel where Chloe had held her arm tingling from the touch but she did her best to suppress the feeling, it was the only way to keep her feelings hidden.

* * *

 

The Bella's ended up finishing early seem as Beca's argument with Aubrey's father had him rattled and he'd been yelling even louder than he previously had, until his right hand man told him it was time for lunch and the Bella's couldn't be more grateful they were done with orders for today, they actually envied Beca for her bravery to stand up to Aubrey's father, although no one was as impressed as Aubrey herself, she'd been trying for years to stand up to her father but she could never do it. What she would give to get out of those stupid practises she didn't know. But as The Bella's made their way towards the brunette they halted seeing her sat with Calamity, Charity, Brassity and Serenity, they still hadn't come to terms with Beca being their friends. Aubrey let out a frustrated huff, she'd been excited to ask Beca for some of her confidence but now she just wanted to barf, her eyes drifted to Chloe who she knew hated Calamity the most, not just because she was the leader, just because she acted so touchy-feely with Beca, acting like her best friend that it made Chloe jealous. That's why it didn't surprise her when Chloe was first to move towards them, her foot stomping on the floor as she went. The Bella's scrambling behind her.

"Beca, there you are!" Chloe said in a higher, false happy tone, giving Beca a full fake smile blanking out their rivals and looking down on the brunette as she swallowed a bite of her sandwich.

"Woah, you guys finished earlier than expected, I thought he'd lock you up in a cage and yell until his voice runs out." Beca snickered, the band sat around her laughing along, Chloe guessed Beca had told them about her getting fed up with Aubrey's father.

" _Actually_ , his voice never runs out." Aubrey chimed in with a tint of sadness laced in her voice, Beca's laugh faded into a soft smile as she looked into her favourite pair of blue eyes.

"Why don't you sit?" Beca patted the space on the couch beside her but Chloe shook her head, eyes finally glancing at the four other girls then back to Beca, some part of her felt that in a way Beca being friends with them was a betrayal, she knew she couldn't stop her from making friends, but she just wondered why she chose these people to be her other friends. Chloe took a step back, letting her fake smile finally disappear and Beca's did along with that, something that resembled hurt passing over her eyes.

"No, me and The Bella's are going to sit over there. Feel free to join us when your finished here." Chloe said, her voice sounding slightly emotionless as she gave Beca a small smile and headed off, The Bella's hesitating before following the redhead. Aubrey took a seat beside Chloe scanning the girls expression, she could immediately tell the redhead was angry the moment Beca hadn't got up to follow them. The other Bella's had all sat around the circular table Chloe had chosen and were now all talking amongst themselves, Chloe sighed turning to Aubrey. "You don't think she'll join them, do you?"

Aubrey sat up straight at the question and looked over her shoulder, watching how Beca interacted with the band, then back to Chloe's sad eyes. She hated seeing Chloe like this, she knew Beca was bad news from the start, she had heartbreak written all over her, yet Chloe had to fall for her anyway. Aubrey wanted to be honest about her opinion, she wanted to say good riddance to the girl, but seeing Chloe's expression...she just couldn't do that to her, it would put Chloe in an even worse funk than she was already in.

"Beca might be a bitch, but no. I don't think she could leave The Bella's to join those train wrecks, she has more sense than that." She could see her words had brought ease to the redhead, her shoulders not so tense now, more relaxed than she was a moment ago. Aubrey wasn't so sure though, she knew the band would be an even better opportunity for become to become a music producer, which meant there was always a possibility where Beca could decide to go her separate ways. But Aubrey faked a small smile for Chloe's sake. Chloe had kept an empty space beside her for Beca when she finally decided to come back but for now she quickly grabbed herself and Aubrey some food and they dug in, exhausted from the orders they had to follow this morning.

"Aubrey." A deep, gravelly voice said, Chloe could see Aubrey visibly tense and turn her head to her father who stood waiting for her too stand before him. Aubrey was on her feet in seconds, swallowing a piece of her food and standing straight before her father, Chloe couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

"Sir." Aubrey responded, hands together behind her back and Chloe wondered if her mother acted like this too.

"We need to talk, follow." With that he turned to walk away, Aubrey gave Chloe a worried glance but she was quick to follow her father. Chloe watched them leave then turned to The Bella's who'd now gone quiet themselves, eyes on Aubrey and her father. Chloe cleared her throat to get their attention and it seemed to work because their eyes snapped towards her.

"What's that about? You don't think Beca screwed this up for us, do you?" Cynthia-Rose asked, Chloe was sure they were still heading to the USO's so she shook her head but she was almost certain it was going to be about Beca, if she'd learned anything from the snippets Aubrey had told her about him, he didn't let this go easily and he'd let Beca off, something that was surprising to all of The Bella's.

"It's obviously about Beca, what else would it be about?" Amy cut in, glancing at all of The Bella's as mutters erupted around the table until another voice spoke over then, silencing their words as they glared up at Beca, they didn't want to get kicked off of the competition just because Beca didn't follow orders.

"Why did Aubrey go off with her father?"

"Because you pissed him off and might cost us our entire tour." Stacie glared, making Beca raise an eyebrow challenging the girl to glare at her once again, but Stacie just rolled her eyes and Chloe got to her feet, she didn't want her Bella's to fight. "Don't you dare be soft on her, Chloe. She could be the reason we end up not getting to sing on stage again."

Chloe looked over her shoulder a frown on her face as she looked down at Stacie, she was usually close with the girl but she scowled at her right now. But she looked back to Beca, her deep blue eyes searching in Chloe's eyes for an answer, or maybe she is she really blamed Beca too. Of course Chloe would be upset with Beca if she was to blame for them getting kicked off, she was already upset with her for staying with Calamity than her. Chloe sighed, not meeting Beca's desperate eyes now.

"I know you didn't mean to get angry, Beca. It just happens, but you put our entire group at risk today, Aubrey's father doesn't go easy on her just because she's his daughter, he treats her like another soldier and if one of his soldiers had spoke to him like you did...well I'm pretty sure they'd be punished greatly." Chloe tried to get Beca to understand, she could see her words were doing something to Beca because her expression had shifted now, her eyes dark and she'd hung her head in shame. She knew she had a temper. "The girls are just worried, we don't want to screw this up Beca."

Beca lifted her head to look at Chloe, giving her a nod indicating she understood, she stepped around Chloe so that she was visible to the whole group. "Look dudes, I know I can have a temper, I know I shouldn't get so defensive the general has good intentions. I get it. But you all know that this is doing nothing to help our set and if we get kicked off then so be it, we'll find some other competition." Chloe winced knowing that wasn't exactly the most convincing speech, they'd failed at finding somewhere to sing when they last searched and she knew without this gig they probably wouldn't find another place to take them.The Bella's opened their mouths to respond but Aubrey's appearance silenced them once more, eager to know what was going on and if they'd still have a place in the USO's. Aubrey didn't exactly appear to be mad nor upset so none of them could figure out what it could have been about, it was times like these they wished they were Chloe because the redhead seemed to read Aubrey like a book and she let out a little squeal moving away from Beca to give Aubrey a squeeze.

"It was about my mother, she'll be at the USO's." Aubrey smiled anxiously, Chloe knew how important her mother was to Aubrey, she preferred her over her father although she'd only met the woman a few times, she could remember her short blonde hair and tall height like Aubrey. "I thought it was going to be about Beca, but for some reason he's dropped that and he told me about my mum and I can't wait!"

"Aw, congrats." Amy smiled getting to her feet and heading around the other side of the table, her smile growing as soon as she opened her arms ready to welcome Aubrey into a hug and the blonde backed away holding her hands in front of her. 

"Uh, no Amy I don't need a hug thank you, Am-" Aubrey was cut off by a bear hug, Amy lifting the blonde up slightly chuckling happy and the other girls couldn't help but smile. You could never get out of a Amy hug, once she wants to hug you, she's going to hug you. A couple Bella's slapped Aubrey on the back to celebrate, it was rare the girl was actually truly happy about someones presence. Beca shared a smile with Chloe as The Bella's got to their feet to see Aubrey and Chloe backed off giving them more space and coming to stand next to the small brunette.

"She's really missed her mum these past few weeks." Chloe told Beca, watching as Aubrey smiled brightly at her fellow Bella's, Beca's eyes moved from the others to Chloe and she smiled up at her, her red curls hung over her shoulders as usual Beca always got the urge to braid it, but she never dared touching Chloe's hair the redhead was very sacred about it.

"Please tell me her mother isn't like her." Beca pleaded, she didn't think she could handle meeting another Aubrey. One was enough. Chloe let out a light laugh beside her as though she'd told a joke and Beca raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Trust me, when you meet her mum you'll wish Aubrey seen her more often, Aubrey's attitude changes when she's around her mother, she's funny, nice and best of all she always cooks food when she's with her." Chloe informed her, "That's my favourite kind of Aubrey."

"Dude...that doesn't even sound like her."

"I know, I was surprised too. I was so used to bossy Aubrey and seeing soft Aubrey left me stunned, I think you two will get along more once you see this side of her." Chloe assured her with confidence, Beca wasn't exactly sure about that but she decided not to continue the subject, she'd let the new Aubrey surprise her.

"Do you want to go and work on the choreography for the third set? Or do you want to leave that until Friday?" Beca asked, she knew it was a little early to start their woke but she liked to get things done so that she didn't have to rush last minute like she knew all the other groups were going to do. But they had a bigger challenge this time; instruments. Something Beca had never thought would cross their paths seem as they were acapella singers and not musicians who use instruments. But here they were in a competition that included bands with instruments.

"Um, no. Let's relax tonight, we can do that Friday." Chloe decided smiling down at Beca, Beca felt a familiar flutter in her chest at the ginger's smile and let her eyes flicker to the ground hiding any evidence she might show that could let the girl know she liked her. She didn't want to complicate things between them.

"Come on, you dork. Let's get out of these jumpsuits." Beca smirked, linking her arm through Chloe's and walking past The Bella's and towards the trailer that they shared. It wasn't exactly the most glamorous place to stay but it was all Aubrey's father was providing for them seem as they were only here temporarily, Beca had been fine with the arrangement seem as it was a spacious trailer and she and Chloe had gotten one of the better ones unlike Lilly and Flo who had a teeny cramped one. But Chloe almost fainted, she hated trailers, she hated that she was unable to have a whole bedroom rather than two single beds in one room and she hated even more that they had one tiny wardrobe, which Beca had let Chloe use seem as she didn't mind leaving her stuff in her suitcase and getting them out when she needed it. 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Beca sat up hearing a knocking on the door, she thought she didn't have to do the whole drill thing anymore. Beca huffed as she pulled her blanket off of her body, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, careful not to knock her ankles on Chloe's bed which was made neatly, she figured she'd either gone out or she was making a coffee which she tended to do every morning. Beca rubbed her eyes as she shuffled tiredly out of the room, almost jumping when she saw Chloe letting in Calamity, Chloe wore a displeased expression her eyes shooting over to Beca then she turned away from Calamity and returned to making her coffee, Beca's mug beside it and Beca was glad she was making her one too. Beca's mind returned to Calamity, ignoring the part of her brain that wanted to check Chloe out in her pyjamas, a battle she woke up with every morning. 

"Calamity, what are you doing here it's like..." Beca scanned the place for a clock but finding nothing and groaning. "Well it's early."

Calamity let out a laugh, closing the trailer door behind her and glancing around the trailer, eyes on Chloe as she came to stand a little too close to Beca, handing the brunette her coffee and Beca smiled up at her in thanks, then back to Calamity. "I'm always up early, I just guessed seem as you don't have to do that stupid drill thing, you'd have nothing to do. So me and the girls wondered if you wanted to head out of air force boundaries and go a little shopping."

Beca tapped her finger against the mug, glancing nervously at Chloe who'd sighed and wandered into their small living room two metres or so away. She knew she was spending too much time with the band already but she did want to get some new clothes and she was going to be sat around bored whilst her friends followed orders. "Uh, yeah. I need to get a few things anyway."

" _Really?_ Okay, cool, but uh I think you'll need to bring your USO badge otherwise they won't let us back in and the USO's are down the drains for us." Calamity advised, turning back to the trailer door, hand resting on the handle. "I'll be back in the hour to get you."

"Sounds _awfully_ like a date." Chloe said in disgust from the sofa, jealousy laced in her words but she took a gulp of her coffee when Beca and Calamity looked over at her, eyebrows furrowed.

"You're welcome to join, Red. Although I figure you don't have the guts to stand up to Aubrey's father seem as he's your best friends father and all." Calamity said it in a way that was trying to get at Chloe, but she phrased it in a way that Beca wouldn't sense the dig at Chloe and Chloe was on her feet, face flushed red at being accused of not having the guts to do something. Beca noticed the shift then and put an arm out to stop Chloe from going at Calamity who just grinned, bemused by Chloe's reaction.

"Fine, I'm coming too. And my name isn't  _Red_." Chloe spat eyeing Calamity in anger, her hand resting on the arm the Beca held out in front of her, she hated the band leader, the other band members she didn't mind but there was something about Calamity that just irked Chloe the wrong way. Calamity smirked and shrugged.

"Good, then I'll come and get both of in an hour, be ready geeks." Calamity called as she left the trailer closing the door behind her and Chloe let out a frustrated sigh, realising her hold on Beca and lifting the coffee on the counter and downing the rest avoiding Beca's intense look. Beca kept her hand on her mug as she sipped a little and kept her eyes on Chloe.

"She was just playing with you Chlo, don't take it so seriously." Beca sighed, trying to ease the tension in the room as Chloe took a deep breath, closing her eyes to take a time out and collect herself then she snapped her eyes towards Beca, her eyes accusing and suddenly Beca felt like she was on trial. "What?"

"Why her?" Chloe's words had a double meaning, but she couldn't stop her voice from breaking when she looked at Beca. The brunette startled from the question, confusion written all over her face. Chloe could still smell the strong perfume that Calamity wore and it made her stomach churn, Beca could have chose any girl to be friends with, any but she chose to be friends with Calamity and every time she saw the two girls interact it was flirty. That used to be her and Beca, not Beca and Calamity. Chloe had had to watch Beca with Jesse acting all lovey dovey and even though it hurt, she could handle it. But she didn't think she'd be able to watch Beca in another relationship, especially not with Calamity. Her hope for them to be a couple had rose when Beca had told her about her and Jesse's mutual break-up, she had been so sure that Beca had finally liked her too, that she finally felt for Chloe the way Chloe did for her. The silence in the air was strong, it wasn't like their usual comfortable silence which was usually quite rare seem as the two girls usually found something to talk about. But this one was like a hammer to the chest, a deadly silence that hadn't existed between them before as Beca searched Chloe's eyes, she looked like a kicked puppy.

"Chloe-"

"I know you can have the friends you want, I know I don't get to have an opinion on that but Beca...I don't trust her, I don't think she's good for you. But you don't see it and honestly, if I'm going to be truthful right now, I am terrified that your going to leave us, leave me for them. Because they get you, your both dark and similar, you get the same dark jokes and I don't and The Bella's aren't something that can get you a job like a music producer and with the band you probably could. But I-I just...forget it, just let them know I won't be coming later, I can't leave Aubrey alone with her father, she'll throw up all over the place." Chloe finished, casting her eyes down and heading into the bedroom, closing the door behind her changing into her jumpsuit, she was already late and she knew she'd probably get yelled at for it but it couldn't hurt as much as the pain in her chest that she felt right now. She knew leaving Beca alone with the band for the entire day could mean they offer her a place, it could mean that Calamity makes a move seem as Chloe could see how keen she was on Beca. But she knew she could only let Beca decide what happens.

* * *

Chloe had remained silent since she showed up, she'd left without a word this morning, heading to the grounds to join the other Bella's Aubrey's father furious that she was late but surprisingly he didn't yell. Chloe did as she was told, following orders and ignoring the thought in her mind that was trying to push forward, trying to make her think of how Beca was out with Calamity and the others. She didn't bother telling the others about it on the break, they knew something had happened between her and Beca which made Aubrey furious but Chloe had told her to leave it, she wasn't going to tell them Beca was spending the day with the other girls, it would only put them in a bad mood too. So Chloe tried to focus her mind on something else-someone else. 

She knew she'd caught the eye of one of the soldiers, well several of the soldiers but she liked the look of this one most and she headed over when she caught him checking her out for the hundredth time and she gave him one of her big pearly fake smiles, her own smile had caught on and he wore one on his face. She read his name tag and rose her eyebrows, forcing down a laugh.

"Chicago? Like the city?" Chloe asked, and he rubbed the nape of his neck in embarrassment, letting out a low laugh and shrugging.

"You don't get to choose your name." He replied, shuffling on his feet, straightening his posture when one of the captials came by, Chloe wanted to laugh and tell him to relax but she knew how uptight and grumpy the soldiers can be so she kept her opinion in. "It's Chloe, right? I uh, I've been trying to work up the nerve to talk to you but you always seem to be occupied with one of your friends."

Chloe nodded, extending a hand. "Well, I'm sure if you came over the girl would've left pretty quickly. Most of them are taken."

"Ah, so that means your not?" He asked, a smirk tugging on the corner of his lips as he looked at her, his confidence suddenly showing and Chloe smiled, for now, her thoughts were occupied in knowing more information about the soldier rather than on Beca and Chloe was thankful, although she felt bad about using him to take hr mind off of Beca seem as he was showing genuine interest in her.

"No, I uh...I'm not."

"Well then, maybe I can get to know you better over dinner tonight? I know a nice little restaurant outside the base." Chicago suggested, looking at her full of hope, she wanted to decline, she had nothing to wear to a fancy dinner and she was worried about leaving Beca seem as they'd usually talk each other to sleep. Although something told her if she didn't go out to dinner she'd fall asleep in awkward silence tonight rather than the usual. So Chloe smiled, she'd find one of her newer dresses and just throw that on.

"I'd love too, my trailer is the one at the far end on the left, one of the bigger ones." Chloe told him, a smile growing on his lips as she accepted his offer. She gathered he didn't get to date much seem as he was stuck here all the time or if not them out flying in the air force. There was hardly any time for romance and that was something she was glad about, it meant he wouldn't get attached.

"Great! I'll uh, well it's three now, so I just I'll pick you up a six, it takes at least twenty minutes to get there seem as you have security, which takes ten minutes, depending on how many people are leaving." He told her, placing his hat that was under his arm on his head and giving her a curt nod. "I look forward to dinner."

"As do I." Chloe smiled, she was glad she wouldn't be stuck eating the slop they served her for dinner tonight, she'd lose her taste buds if she kept eating it. Chicago gave her a small wave before moving off towards a bunch of soldiers near the jets, most likely to give them the news that he'd got a date and Chloe smiled to herself, she still had it. Before quickly heading back to where Aubrey was waiting for her, tapping her foot against the floor impatiently.

"Chloe Beale, did you just agree to go on a date with one of my dads soldiers?" Aubrey asked, her foot stopping and she unfolded her arms, Chloe opened her mouth to respond but Aubrey let out am unexpected excited squeal. "This means you can finally get over Beca, because I'm on the brink of giving that girl a good black eye for hurting you."

"For the last time, she doesn't mean to hurt me Aubrey and yes, but Chicago is only a distraction." Chloe sighed and Aubrey's smile faltered, her lips suddenly becoming tight and Chloe could tell she was stifling back a laugh like Chloe had done earlier.

"His name is Chicago? You mean like the-"

"City, _yes_. I know I thought it was funny too. Now if you don't mind, I have a date to prep for." Chloe smirked, giving Aubrey a hug goodbye and heading down the gravelled path to her trailer, she was partly glad her trailer was at the far back, but she also hated it seem as she had to walk so far and she knew Chicago would just drive his car-if he had one-up to her trailer, so she shouldn't care so much. Chloe wondered if Beca had returned from her shopping trip seem as she left pretty early this morning, surely she couldn't still be out. Chloe knew that was a stupid question, a girl could shop all night and not get fed up but Beca was different, she didn't love shopping as much as Chloe did. She only did it when she needed or wanted to get something, Chloe practically had to force her to come with her otherwise. But when Chloe came into the trailer she was greeted by silence, Beca was still out so Chloe got ready in the silence, searching through the crammed wardrobe for a decent dress and pulling out her make-up bag and making sure she had everything to put on a full face of make-up which she only did on fancy dinners, being guests at an event along with nights out.

* * *

Beca had returned ten minutes before Chloe was supposed to be picked up and when she called for the girl to see if she was in, her eyes almost fell out of her head as she looked Chloe up and down, a little breath taken by the redhead. Beca had gotten used to seeing her in her jumpsuit and a little make up but Chloe was before her, full make-up adding to that a bright smile on her face, a soft blue dress to perfectly match her eyes and her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail with a braid going through it. Once Beca was finally able to say something, it was only one word.

"Whoa."

Chloe hadn't expected Beca's reaction and she suddenly felt her heart leap out of her chest at Beca's approval of her look, mouth slightly agape in shock but it was a good shock and Chloe felt like her heart had crawled into her throat. Her cheeks burning as she felt Beca's eyes still eyeing her body, she finally moved when she realised they were both just staring at one another.

"I have a date." Chloe announced, she'd never seen Beca's smile fade so fast. Something that she was slightly happy about seem as it meant Chloe wasn't exactly happy about it. 

"What? You don't even know any guys on the base, except Aubrey's dad." Beca pulled a face and Chloe scrunched up her face in disgust.

"Oh my god! Ew no Beca, who do you think I am?" Chloe exclaimed, moving around Beca to grab her mascara to add an extra layer, making her eyes pop more than usual. "Gross Becs, seriously!"

Beca winced at her mistake and shrugged. "Then who?"

"Chicago, he's a soldier I met today, I saw him checking me out and I thought why not?" Chloe muttered as she turned back to Beca, the brunette had her arms folded now, the items she'd brought in two bags on top of the counter near her. "Did you have fun?"

Beca's eyes followed Chloe's gesture to her shopping bags and she shrugged. "It was alright, I'm only late because Charity couldn't decide what pair of shorts she wanted. You should have came, I did try asking you before you left but you were gone before I could even open my mouth." Chloe bowed her head at that, she couldn't hide the smile that crept on her lips knowing that Beca had wanted her there. "And is that the brunette guy that always lingers around when we're doing drills, I've always thought he was a bit creepy."

Chloe rolled her eyes at the comment, of course Beca didn't approve, she never approved of anyone. "Yes, well I spoke to him and now we're off for a date at a nice restaurant, don't wait up." Chloe winked playfully but Beca's face fell, something crossing her eyes that Chloe couldn't pinpoint.

"Your staying at his?" Beca didn't even bother to hide the disappointed tone in her voice. She liked falling asleep to Chloe babbling on about some designer handbag or how they were going to perform in the USO's, she didn't mind what she spoke about really because she just loved the sound of Chloe's voice, especially when she sings a soft song to help them sleep, Beca joining in sometimes and other times she'd turn on her side to watch Chloe sing. It was almost enchanting, and unlike the usual events of their day, it was peaceful.

"No, I was joking. I'll be back by nine or ten, it's just dinner it shouldn't take long. I have no interest in sleeping with him. It's just a little fun." Chloe smiled, Beca wasn't so sure but she didn't carry on, she couldn't anyway seem as a knock on the trailer door echoed around them and Chloe gathered up her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and heading to the door. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, have fun." Beca mumbled as she watched Chloe leave, kissing Chicago's cheek when he handed her a rose. Beca glared at him, not liking him already but Chloe seemed oblivious to Beca's glares because one last quick wave to Beca and she got into his car and headed out, Beca let out an exasperated sigh, rolling her eyes as she took her bags into their room and placed the dress she'd brought Chloe on the pile she had in her wardrobe and them tucked her new clothes in her suitcase which was beginning to overflow.


	3. Chapter 3

Beca tried not to think of the date that Chloe was on, she did her best to think of everything but it, but her mind seemed determined to think of Chloe laughing happily away with the military guy or her mind would take a darker turn and think of the bad things about military men, war affects them and how they react to people and Beca started to worry that he might flip out at Chloe and that she was out there all alone with him. For a moment she thought she was going to have a panic attack, she had Fat Amy and Aubrey in with her for an hour or two to keep her company but Aubrey complained that she was tired, then Amy started rambling on about what happened in Australia before she came back to join the Bella's again and Beca almost lost it. Thankfully she managed to coolly tell Amy that she was tired and needed sleep, which took the Australian a few minutes to understand before she mumbled that she was getting tired anyway and left Beca to the lonely silence of the trailer. It was quarter past nine and Beca couldn't stop her eyes from flickering from the screen of her laptop to the trailer door, eager for Chloe to come strolling through. A first date was never this long unless the person enjoyed it and the thought suddenly caused a sharp pain in her chest, Chloe must've been enjoying it. Beca felt the unfamiliar feeling of an elephant on her chest and she knew exactly what it was even though she'd only ever felt it a couple times around Chloe. Jealousy. That evil feeling that turns you into a grumpy ball of miserable sadness, she was used to being grumpy but the rest of the emotions weren't exactly regular. A click from the door made her thoughts slip away, heart suddenly picking up speed.

"-I will, thank you again...yeah, okay. Goodnight, Chicago." 

It was Chloe obviously and when she stepped into Beca's view she was still as intact as she was when she'd left, which meant she wasn't drunk and Beca was grateful. Chloe jumped once she finished closing the door, startled that Beca was just sat on the sofa when she was usually chilling on her laptop in her bed by now. Beca gave her a fake smile, burying her jealousy and raising her eyebrows to Chloe as she returned the smile placing her purse on the counter.

"Have fun?" Beca asked, mimicking what Chloe had asked her earlier about her shopping trip. Chloe let out a breath, her arms dropping to her sides as she gave Beca a look that she could read almost immediately. "Seems like it didn't go as well as you'd have liked."

"Well, _he_ thought it went well, he even offered me a second date." Beca forced back a scowl as she glanced at the tired redhead that slumped down beside her, her bright blue eyes on Beca's screen. "Whatcha doing?"

"I gather you said no, and what I always do of course, mixing a few things nothing that I really like though, it was just to fill the boredom that was trying to take over me." Beca shrugged, sliding the laptop onto Chloe's lap. It had gotten a habit-letting Chloe listen to her mixes-mainly because she valued Chloe's opinion on them and she trusted her not to delete anything which always seemed like something Amy would do by accident, so she made sure that only Chloe was able to get her hands on it. Beca watched as Chloe gave her a small smile, slipping the headphones over her ears, not having to push back her hair this time seem as it was up.

"I said we'll see, I couldn't just straight up say no. It would be rude and I don't exactly want some soldier glaring at me every time he sees me. I'd feel awful." Chloe muttered, her focused changing to the laptop the moment she pressed play, her head bobbing softly along to the music, Beca watching her with a soft smile, for some reason seeing Chloe like this made her heart feel like it was soaring. 

"If you do say no and he doesn't like it then he'll just have to deal with it, besides what does he expect to happen? You and him to live together happily ever after, I mean, he's practically living in this base." Beca said, frowning at the thought of Chloe staying behind after the USO's were over just for some man. Beca suddenly felt a tug on her heart as she stared at Chloe, the ginger pushing back the headphones to hear Beca properly. "Y-you wouldn't do that would you?"

Now it was Chloe's turn to frown. "Do what?"

"Stay here, if you know, you end up really liking him. You wouldn't stay would you?" Beca let her gaze break from Chloe's scared to know the answer and she watched as Chloe's hand drifted from the mouse and into her hand, a gentle smile on her lips and she leaned her head against Beca's shoulder, the gesture making the brunette soften completely, the warmth of the redhead making her feel loved.

"I wouldn't even think of it, Becs. You and the girls are my family, I won't leave my family for some guy. Besides, I know I'll never really like him like that." Chloe replied softly, her voice almost above a whisper as she gave Beca's hand a squeeze. Chloe's thoughts brought her back to earlier when she had yelled at Beca for being friends with Calamity and she sucked in a breath before speaking. "Now can I ask you a question?"

Chloe's words took Beca but surprise but Beca nodded. "Shoot."

"I've been terrified that your going to leave me and the girls and join Calamity. Are you?" Chloe finally admitted, Beca shifted in a way that forced Chloe to lift her head from Beca's shoulder and look her in the eyes, her dark blue eyes filled with tears, something that surprisingly made Chloe feel upset, she hadn't meant to make Beca emotional, she knew Beca hated being emotional. But this time Beca put her free hand in Chloe's so that both their hands were between them, holding one another's.

"Is that why you got so upset earlier? Because you thought I was going to leave?" Beca asked and Chloe broke the eye contact giving Beca her answer. She gripped Chloe's hands tightly but not enough to injure her. "No Chloe, no I'd never leave you and the Bella's, you guys are my family too. Calamity did offer me a place if I wanted it but I turned it down as soon as it came out of her mouth."

Now it was Chloe's turn to cry but this time it was happy tears, she was thankful that Beca had turned down Calamity's offer, that she saw The Bella's as her family too. That she loved them as much as Chloe did. Beca swiped away her own tears then did the same to Chloe's.

"Now look what you've done, dude, we're a mess." Beca let out as a croaky laugh, fresh tears prickling in her eyes, Chloe let out a chuckle too, trying to contain her tears and stop crying. "Just so you know, I'm glad it didn't go well with that guy tonight."

Chloe broke into a smile, tears finally stopping as she locked eyes with the brunette. Wondering what Beca meant by that because she'd be sure that Aubrey would be frustrated about it not going well tomorrow and Chloe knew deep down why Beca was glad the date didn't go well and Chloe couldn't help the smile that had came on her face. "You know what...me too." Beca's smile grew at her words and her eyes flickered to her lips but it was only seconds before they returned to her eyes and she cleared her throat, shuffling slightly to restore the distance that had been between them when Chloe had sat down.

"Okay dork, well go change and look in the closet, I got you a little something earlier." Beca told her and Chloe returned to being a bubbly bubble of joy, jumping to her feet with a squeal and rushing towards the bedroom, Beca smiling brightly as she watched the redhead leave, bursting into their bedroom. It only took Beca a few minutes until she heard an even louder squealing as she came out of the room with the maroon dress Beca had brought her pressed to her chest.

"Beca Mitchell, I could damn well kiss you right now!" She cried in excitement, placing the dress carefully on the side and speed walking over to Beca and taking hold of her hands and pulling her too her feet much to Beca's protests but for a second she actually thought Chloe was going to kiss her but then she felt two strong arms around her neck, Chloe's face buried in her shoulder and it only took a moment before Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist holding her back with a grin. "Thank you Becs, I love it." She murmured into her shoulder.

"Anything for my favourite nerd." Beca smiled, giving Chloe a gentle squeeze in return then letting her escape to finish getting ready for bed. Beca noted to keep a little distance between her and the band, she didn't like upsetting Chloe...or The Bella's of course. But she did like Calamity and the other girls so she wouldn't cut all contact but she'd show Chloe and The Bella's that she wasn't going anywhere, she wouldn't dream of it and if she was going to leave she'd take Chloe with her or she wouldn't leave without her, the thought of losing Chloe felt like a dagger striking her through heart. Beca sighed and walked back to the sofa shutting off her laptop and closing the lid, wrapping up her headphones and putting them under her arm and declared to Chloe. "Are you done? Because I'm coming in!"


	4. Chapter 4

Beca had gotten up an hour before Chloe, meaning she was up extremely early seem as Chloe woke up early for drill and Beca groaned as she looked at herself in the mirror, back in the pickle-coloured jumpsuit. She hated how big it looked on her seem as she was so small and when Chloe wore it she looked like she was modelling for some jumpsuit company. Beca messily tied up her hair, cussing at the loose pieces of hair that was sticking out but shaking it off seem as she couldn't care, she had several coffee's but it felt like a zombie had taken over her body wanting to pull her back into the bed that lingered at her in the full length mirror, taunting her that she could be sleeping. But it was too late to change her mind now, not when she wanted to prove to The Bella's that she wasn't changing groups or leaving them, she didn't know when it happened but her eyes drifted to the right, a figure curled up in blankets, an arm tucked under the pillow as her red mane remained sprawled over the pillow. Beca felt a smile tug on the corners of her lips, a wave of adoration washing over her when she watched the sleeping girl. She knew she really wanted to do this for Chloe, not The Bella's as mean as it might seem, but her heart felt crushed at the thought of hurting Chloe just because she was hanging around with someone she didn't like. Chloe stirred behind her and Beca turned around, placing her hands on her hips, a grin on her face as she waited for the ginger to sit up, which took a while seem as Chloe seemed to be having the same struggle waking up as Beca did every morning. Chloe seemed a little confused at first, scratching her hair and cocking her head to the side, her eyes squinting.

"Beca what-"

"I decided that as much as I hate waking up early, being bossed around, wearing these stupid uniforms...I like spending time with my girls more. So I can bare all the things I hate because being with you nerds is worth it." Beca announced, posing in her uniform pouting like she thought a model would and she saw a smile dance across Chloe's face. "Come on Beale, did you miss me in this sexy uniform?"

Chloe giggled like a schoolgirl, her head dropping to look into her lap but Beca could see the smile still lingering on her face and when she looked up that smile had turned into a mischievous one, an eyebrow raised as she shifted in her bed, pushing the blankets off of her lap and getting to her feet. Chloe purposely tilted her head letting her eyes drift over Beca, then eventually meeting a playful Beca and although Chloe was tired she wasn't going to miss being flirty with Beca.

"Oh yeah, I missed seeing you in that colour, it suits you." Chloe winked flirtatiously and Beca's cheeks tinted red, inching closer to Chloe swallowing her racing heart and shooting a flirt straight back at her.

"Really, Beale? Well I did all this just for you, so you can see me walking around in this all day. I bet you won't be able to control yourself." Beca grinned, folding her arms as it turned Chloe's turn to blush, Beca felt honoured really she didn't see anyone else making the ginger flustered and Chloe stumbled for a come back, struggling to find one and settling on,

"Believe me Mitchell, once you see me in my uniform I guarantee you that you'll be all over me." Chloe stepped one step closer leaving no space for Beca to move any closer, Beca felt defeated, she knew if Chloe purposely did something to her uniform to make her even more appealing then Beca was sure she'd actually be all over the woman.

"The others are wearing the exact same outfit as you, what makes you think that I'd be all over you when I could be all over Stacie?" Beca questioned and Chloe let out a laugh, not a cruel one but one that was sharp.

"Because I'll swoop in and scoop Stacie up and believe me if you even try to hit on Aubrey she'd tie you up and throw you into one of those fighter jets and before you know it bullets would be flying through the air below you." Chloe replied lifting her shoulders and letting them fall. Beca knew she lost there, besides she wouldn't want to hit on any other Bella. "Not that you'd choose another Bella." Chloe said finally as though she was reading Beca's mind, her shimmering blue eyes not leaving Beca's for one second.

"Now, now Chloe no need for the ego." Beca disproved, shaking her head to add affect but Chloe remained the same.

"It's not my ego Beca, I just know if you would be with anyone of The Bella's, it would be me."

Beca noticed Chloe's confidence in her words and she suddenly felt a bead of sweat on her forehead, did Chloe know about her feelings for her? Beca didn't back down though she pressed on. "And what makes you think I wouldn't choose Amy? She's my best friend _and_ roommate." 

"Because although you might be Amy's best friend and roommate, you and I are closer. Besides, I could just win you over with my charm, that usually dazzles everyone." Chloe winked once more, before touching Beca's arm so that she could curve around the girl to get to the wardrobe to get ready. She didn't want to be late again. Beca knew Chloe was right, she could be Amy's best friend as well as her roommate but over everything, she'd always choose Chloe. She'd fell for Chloe's charm the moment she stuck up for her and believed and supported her in her first year. She fell deep for the girl before she even knew it. "Told you."

Chloe's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and Beca realised she'd just been staring where Chloe had been stood and when she turned Chloe was dressed, Beca's eyes widened wondering how long she'd been stuck in her mind but she was slightly confused by Chloe. "Sorry?"

"I _said_ , I told you. You were thinking about it and you know you'd choose me to be the one you'd be with." Chloe said simply, eyes focused on where she was doing up her buttons, Beca gulping when she saw a slight bit of Chloe's pink bra and averting her eyes feeling ashamed for looking. Beca sighed, and Chloe glanced up at her finishing as she left a couple buttons undone so it looked cuter.

"Your right," Chloe looked at her in surprise, Beca hardly ever admitted that someone else was right. "I would choose you."

Chloe stood where she was unsure of what to say next, Beca had rendered her speechless and the brunette knew it, she gave Chloe a broad smile and sauntered out of the room, most likely to get them both a coffee seem as she could tell Beca hadn't had one yet otherwise she'd be able to smell it. Chloe tried to calm her speeding heart but she knew there was one thing she wanted to say to so she moved across the room quickly and stood in the doorway of their bedroom, looking over to Beca who was reaching for the mugs on the second self, surprisingly able to reach it.

"Just so you know, I'd choose you too." Beca looked over her shoulder at Chloe at Chloe's words and turned back to the mugs with a smile.

"I know." 

Chloe raised her eyebrows at that. "How?"

"Because I know you. You wouldn't choose Aubrey because she's like a sister to you and you'd find it weird, you wouldn't choose Amy because you know you wouldn't be able to put up with her constant jabbering about her trips and Amy Winehouse gigs in New York, you wouldn't choose Cynthia-Rose because she has a girlfriend and you'd feel too bad, you wouldn't pick Lilly or Flo because you hardly know a thing about their outer lives and they'd be too much for you to handle if you did choose them and you like Ashley and Jessica together so those two are out of the picture and that leaves me and Stacie." Beca explained, Chloe was stunned at how right Beca was, she didn't make one mistake, she was still rooting for Ashley to make her move on Jessica. But Chloe's eyebrows knitted together.

"And how do you know I wouldn't pick Stacie?" Chloe asked, knowing Beca was waiting for the question. Beca finished stirring their drinks, tapping the spoon on the edge of the mug before placing it on the counter and turning with hers and Chloe's drink in hand, passing Chloe hers and a smile came on her face.

"You'd choose me because although you might've shared a room with Stacie for three years in college and although you guys are always gossiping, you and her aren't like me and you. You can't read Stacie like a book as you can with me, you know my words before they even leave my mouth, you and Stacie don't have the connection me and you do, we use each other for strength. Plus I highly doubt you and Stacie sing each other to sleep, or talk until you eventually drift off to the other persons babbling. Also you chose me to spend six weeks in a trailer with, not Stacie." Beca answered, using her in-tell to use as evidence, Chloe agreed, she didn't connect with anyone the way she did with Beca and Stacie certainly wouldn't allow singing to sleep or chatter before bed because the girl like to get her beauty sleep.

"I guess you really do know me." Chloe's voice was gentle and sweet and her eyes softened in contact with Beca's, Chloe just had the urge to grab her face and kiss her until their lips were too swollen to continue. Beca smiled, lowering her eyes to her coffee in hand, blowing on it to attempt to cool it's temperature.

"Of course I do, I have no doubt you can sum up why I wouldn't choose the others too. But we'd best hurry up and drink these, I want to be early just so I can make Aubrey's dad take me back, you don't think he'll send me back here, do you?" Beca asked, concern crossing her features.

"I'm sure if you show up early, respect him and apologise for your behaviour. He'd happily welcome you back, he's been in a good mood since he heard his wife was coming into town." Chloe shrugged, "Don't stress, I swear if he doesn't bring you back then I'll tell him I'm stopping drill too."

Beca smirked, shaking her head lightly but with love. "You don't realise how sweet you really are, Chloe Beale. Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should toughen you up, sweet isn't really a big thing in the real world."

"Becs I'd be terrified if you tried to toughen me up, for all I know you'd send me to a boxing ring, I've never been really good with violence. Words are more my thing." Chloe told her, sipping on her coffee. Beca shouldn't be surprised, she couldn't imagine Chloe in a fight, but sometimes she really did worry for the girl, someone could take advantage of how nice she was. "Besides, I have you to be tough for me, now I need to finish up with my hair, it's a mess so I'll just throw it up into a bun and then put my boots on, brush my teeth and we can go."


	5. Chapter 5

It went better than Beca had been expecting, she just repeated exactly what Chloe had told her on the way over to the grounds, maybe it was because Chloe knew Beca wasn't exactly the best person at apologies and the fact that she had a temper and if the general snapped at her, there was a large chance that Beca would accidentally end up arguing back and there was no way she'd be able to go back if that happened. The other Bella's were a little confused as to why Beca would want to come back, seem as this wasn't exactly something fun to do, getting up early was more like torture, but they didn't bother questioning it, they were just happy to spend time with Beca once again. The only one that wasn't happy about Beca's return was Aubrey and she let the brunette know it. Any time they had to do something as a group Aubrey did her best to separate Chloe and Beca, then to cut the girl out of the group several times and the moment Aubrey's father walked off to check on his other groups, Beca broke.

"What the hell is your problem, Aubrey?" Now Beca was used to arguing with Aubrey, it was a regular occurrence even though they were friends... _occasionally_. The Bella's were stood around, back to being as awkward as they were when Beca and Aubrey fought just like the first time they had met, Chloe was the one to step in, eyes wary of what could play out.

"Let's not do this right now..." Chloe started but Aubrey was quick to cut in, anger fuelling her already.

"You're my problem, Beca!" Aubrey spat, pointing a finger at Beca, a scowl on her face. "You decide to come back like nothing happened, like you didn't ditch us just so that you didn't have to wake up early and follow my fathers orders, you decide suddenly that oh, maybe I should be a good team member again. That's not how it works Beca! You made Chloe cry, I should rip out your vocal chords!"

Chloe's eyes widened, she didn't want to be brought into this, she side glanced Beca and saw the anger drop from her face and morph into concern at Aubrey's final words. Chloe stormed towards Aubrey, it was rare she and Aubrey got into an argument but right now she couldn't care less. 

"You had _no_ right saying that, I told you to leave it be and what do you do? Go and announce it to everyone!" Chloe yelled, hurt flared in her eyes. Aubrey's expression was apologetic but Chloe didn't care now that she was full of rage. "I didn't want to be brought into this argument but now that I am I'm going to say something to you Aubrey, Beca knows that we think she might leave, and she promised me last night that would never happen because we're her _family_! She's here today to show us that she'd go through this hell everyday just to be with us, so before you argue back at either me or Beca, think about how your the only one that's bothered by Beca being here, it's like the first year all over again. Grow up, Aubrey!"

Chloe took in a deep breath trying to calm herself down, no one spoke a word, not Aubrey, not Beca and any of The Bella's. Chloe watched as Aubrey's eyes cast downwards, most likely feeling defensive, upset and hurt, but she didn't respond and Chloe shook her head. Aubrey knew what she did was wrong, Chloe had noted that Aubrey was just trying to protect her like always but she didn't need protecting, she was a big girl, if she needed it she could do it herself. Beca was the next one to speak up, capturing Chloe's attention.

"Chloe...why didn't you tell me that I-I was hurting you?" Beca's voice was laced in sorry and sadness, her heart dropping into her stomach at the thought that she had hurt the one person she wouldn't ever dream of hurting. Beca watched Chloe look at her the anger that had been in her eyes simmering away and something else taking it's place.

"Because I was being childish, I was just upset over you spending time with Calamity, thinking you were going to leave us behind...leave _me_ behind and I just ended up crying. You didn't hurt me Beca, your allowed to be friends with other people, this was just me upsetting myself and overthinking." Chloe sighed, she kept her eyes locked with Beca's deep blue ones, the small brunette looking at her eyes filled with meaning.

"I told you last night, I'm not going anywhere Chlo. That's something you should never worry about, trust me." Beca let out a laugh that was unusually soft and she had moved closer at some point, a little smile on her face and Chloe's own lips mirrored her smile.

"I know... _besides_ how could you stay away from me in this jumpsuit, I mean look at Chicago over there, he can't take his eyes off of me, you can't either." Chloe grinned, Beca sometimes wondered how the redhead could switch a conversation from emotional and meaningful to playful and flirty but she wasn't against it, although when she moved her eyes to find Chicago looking over at Chloe from further away she gave him a wave waiting for him to return it and the moment he did she stuck up her middle finger making all of the Bella's around her gasp, Chloe quickly swatting away her hand, her face red in embarrassment. " _Beca!_ "

"What? I disapprove." Beca shrugged, a hidden smile on her face as she glanced at Chloe then a familiar voice interrupted them, making the girls step out of each others personal space, the tension over the group dissolved as soon as Beca and Chloe returned to their usual flirting behaviour.

"You've broke line." It was loud and not something that Beca had missed hearing in the mornings and Aubrey spoke up again as they shifted into a line, back to tallest to smallest which meant Chloe was a couple of people away from Beca and Beca hated it.

"Sorry, sir." 

"It's fine, our drills will be finished after today, you'll be starting to work on your USO performance because I want you girls to be ready and although you might not believe it, I do want you to win." Aubrey's father told them, Aubrey looked like she was about to cry because she was getting her father's belief in her. It was as though the conflict a few minutes ago didn't happen, that it didn't exist. The Bella's couldn't have been more relieved about being able to return to their singing and dancing, they missed it, it bonded them all together. Fat Amy folded her arms, her eyebrow quirking up as she looked at the general. 

"So what was all this for anyway?" 

"It's been a bonding exercise, Patricia." The general spoke in his stern voice, disapproving that she was questioning his reasoning for doing all this. Amy frowned at the name, she hated being called by her birth name, she much preferred Amy.

"For the hundredth time it's Amy, I think I'm going to grab myself a drink. Anyone else want one?" Amy asked as she wandered off towards the catering area where the drinks were. Most of The Bella's shook their heads except Emily who pounced forward a big smile on her face as usual and she nodded. "Alright Stretch, let's go."

Emily's eyebrows furrowed and she glanced over her shoulders at Beca and Chloe in question, then back to Amy. " _Stretch?_ "

"Yeah, you know, because your tall." Amy gestured to the girls height and then carried on walking making Emily quickly scamper after her to keep up. Beca gave a knowing smile to Chloe, shaking her head slightly before they turned their heads back towards the general, who always seemed confused by Amy's nature but he just pushed it aside and returned his attention to the line of females before him.

"You girls need to work hard for this, these people aren't acapella groups, you've met some but this isn't the only base holding participating groups. There was some people that have won many many championships and if you don't give this all you have, there is no chance that you'll win. And Miss Mitchell," Beca snapped her head up from looking at the floor at the sound of her name. "You will be pressured like I have pressured and you can't just yell and leave, an attitude like that and you might as well go back home right now."

"I won't leave, why does everyone think I'm going to leave?" Beca sighed, throwing her hands in the air in frustration and the general raised his eyebrows, making her roll her eyes. " _Jesus_ do I have to spell it out? I've never had the intention to leave, I'd never do that to this group and if you think that I will you don't know me, okay? So back off."

"Good. Just had to be sure, although Aubrey says you wouldn't leave Chloe behind anyway, so I guess she's right." For the first time since they'd been there a smirk came on the general's lips, happy he made Beca's face go red in embarrassment, the brunette having no come back just glaring over at Aubrey. Aubrey shrugged, she wasn't going to deny saying that because it was true. Chloe just smiled shyly, glancing at the now grumpy Beca, Chloe would never leave without Beca too. "Now go and join your friends, I bid you farewell and good luck, I will be voting for you to win."

"Thanks dad." Aubrey smiled, cautiously stepping forward, extending a hand with her father who shook it gladly. Beca wasn't much for affection but she couldn't imagine having a relationship like that with her dad. She at least let him hug her, on the occasion, she wasn't really a hugger, being touched wasn't exactly something she was fond of. Although she knew Emily and Chloe loved hugs and they'd both attempted to trap her in a hug but luckily her size came in handy and she ducked out of it, moving quick.

Chloe had moved to her side at some point as they headed towards where Fat Amy and Emily had headed off too, Chloe was silent for the first few seconds, her body so close to Beca that their hands would brush with each stride they took. Beca wanted to pull away but she stayed, there was no point in retracting from Chloe's touch, the girl would just get upset and wonder why Beca was avoiding her touch. It wasn't that, it was just that sometimes being so close to Chloe that she could smell her sweet strawberry perfume, could be too much. It made her feel lightheaded that she could be so close to the redhead, her red curls over her shoulders as the usually were, her shining blue eyes watching the floor as they walked. Beca could already feel Aubrey's piercing eyes on her and she knew she needed to thank Chloe.

"Hey, uh-thank you for earlier, you know, sticking up for me with Aubrey." Beca finally spoke up, clearing her throat after and averting her eye contact when she felt Chloe look at her, she could already sense Chloe had a smile on her lips.

"Aubrey was the one trying to push you out, I wasn't just going to sit back and let that happen, besides she had no right bringing me into it." Chloe told her, lifting an arm to brush her hair out of her face, tucking it behind her ear. Chloe spared a glance over to Aubrey who was looking over at her and Beca, but she didn't look away when Chloe saw her. Chloe knew what Aubrey wanted, she wanted her to not get close to Beca again, she knew Aubrey just didn't want her to get hurt but she wouldn't. Beca made her happy. She was pretty sure that she had never been any happier than those three years that Beca had decided to stay in the Bella's. The two had more memories with each other than any other Bella. They had movie nights together, sat closely together on the couch, even closer if it was a horror film and they took strolls together around the university, taking a breather from their loud housemates, they'd both head out to fetch dinner together most days and when Chloe's parents were in town, Chloe would bring Beca with her to go and see them and Beca took Chloe with her on the odd occasion to ask her father something that she hated having to do alone. They might not be best friends like Amy was to Beca and Aubrey was to Chloe, but they had a deeper bond, one that wasn't just friendship. Their relationship with one another was different to their relationships with the other Bella's.


	6. Chapter 6

Beca might not have liked dance before the Bella's and to be fair, she still didn't but she wouldn't say she was the worst at it, their routine was relatively simple seem as they hated doing big movements seem as last time that got them in a whole mess including an unfortunate revealing of Amy's vagina-something no one wanted to see-especially not the president. Either way Beca knew they were doing well, muscles flexing elegantly as they moved swiftly as though they'd been practising for weeks but really it had only been a week, even Emily seemed to get control of her clumsiness and not fall over. Chloe had been working harder than ever and Beca could see it was paying off, the redhead was dancing better than all of them, getting lost in the dance and her voice seemed to be better than ever, she had mentioned that she was drinking this soother for her throat and Beca noted that she needed to try it at some point. Chloe was beside her now humming to a soft tune that Beca didn't recognise, it wasn't one they were singing and she wasn't sure she'd heard it before but the tune was beginning to get stuck in her own head. The Bella's had finished their practise for this week, they were taking a weekend to themselves until the USO's became too intense to take a weekend off. Chloe usually spent her free weekends shopping and splashing her cash until she was satisfied with her new wardrobe but this time she wasn't going to be staying near the base.

"Beca I'm flying over to LA this weekend." Chloe announced when the two moved to the side to grab a bottle of water, beads of sweat on their foreheads from working so hard on their routine. Beca closed the lid of her bottle, her deep ocean blue eyes showing her a wave of sadness flashing through them. Chloe knew how much Beca hated her leaving her with the others as much as she loved them that's why she continued to smile. She'd asked her parents if Beca could stay with them for the weekend alongside her seem as they had the spare bedroom, and as Chloe expected, they agreed. "I wanted to know if you'd like to join me?"

Beca's eyes widened slightly at the question, Chloe gave her a second to think about it and Beca felt a smile crawl across her lips and she felt hope rise in her chest, she already knew the brunette would agree, most likely not wanting to stay another weekend in the base. But seeing how happy it made Beca just made her accepting a whole lot better. 

"You want me to come?" Beca asked, although she already knew the answer when Chloe rolled her eyes, the smile still plastered on her lips.

"Of course I want you to come over, unless you'd prefer to stay here with the girls in an empty trailer all alone..." 

"No! I want to come, dude! I'm just happy you won't be leaving me here with Aubrey." Beca settled, ducking her head to hide the blush at how quickly she accepted. She lifted her head as another voice interrupted their conversation.

"What about me?" Aubrey asked with an arched brow, glaring at Beca then letting her eyes drift from her to Chloe, waiting for an answer as to why her name had been brought up in their conversation. Chloe rubbed the nape of her neck anxiously, she knew how temperamental Aubrey could be about these things and she let her eyes flicker from the floor to Aubrey, pondering on whether she should come up with a lie. But she decided to tell the truth anyway seem as they're going to have to inform The Bella's on their whereabouts anyway.

"I'm taking Beca with me to visit my parents this weekend." Chloe told the blonde, sighing in frustration when another Bella cut in, a mischievous smirk playing on their lips.

"A bit early to meet the parents isn't it? Or is Beca planning on purposing?" Cynthia-Rose grinned, Beca shuffled uncomfortably, her cheeks burning up partially anger at the team up against her and Chloe and the fact that it did seem a little romantic. Chloe folded her eyes, wanting to let the Bella's play out whatever they were going to play out but a scowl formed on Beca's face and before Chloe could stop her Beca was snapping back with a comment.

"For your information, I've met Chloe's parents plenty of times so has Aubrey so I'd like to know if you think Aubrey's going to purpose to Chloe too, also Aubrey I can see that grumpy look on your face, it's one weekend away, I'm sure you can survive without Chloe!"

"I bet Chloe's only taking you with her because every time she spends even a day away from you you get all pouty and stroppy, so don't you dare say I can't survive one weekend without Chloe!" Chloe groaned, she hated her two friends arguing, Cynthia seemed to have gotten that she'd rubbed Beca the wrong way and had backed off, most likely going to fill in the other Bella's of the drama going on over here.

" _Enough!_ "  Chloe yelled louder than she had before, fury flushing her expression as she glared between her two closest friends. "Just stop fighting, for once. Just get along. I'm taking Beca away with me because I want her to come with me to see my parents, Aubrey not because she gets pissy. And Beca you have to keep your calm, stop barking at anyone, Cynthia was just teasing and Aubrey is just Aubrey, you should be used to it." 

Chloe turned on her heel, water clasped in hand shaking her head in annoyance leaving her two friends behind until Beca rushed forward but stopped halfway knowing just wanted a breather, so she turned back to the group. Aubrey still where she was last stood and the other Bella's looking at her in concern but she shook them off, she had to tell Calamity to cancel their weekend plans seem as she was going away with Chloe. She'd been busy with her choreography work with Chloe and the others so she'd only been able to spare a little time to talk with Calamity and the others, especially since they'd started their rehearsing too.

* * *

Beca found Calamity alone for once to her surprise, the girl sat on a wall which made Beca wary to join her, she wasn't exactly fond of heights but she sucked it up and carefully sat down near Calamity, the short-haired girl watching her with a smile when she sat down. "Shouldn't you be practising? I heard you guys do full out rehearsals."

"We do, but for today it's finished. Listen about our plans this weekend-"

"Yeah, Charity had to drop out, she's started seeing this guy, god knows why seem as he'll probably break up with her in a week. She doesn't tend to pick the right guys." Calamity cut in, Beca felt bad for cancelling now but she wanted to be with Chloe so she continued.

"I'm going to have to drop out too, Calamity." Calamity looked at her, doing the exact face Aubrey had earlier and Beca averted her eyes to where her legs were dangling off of the wall, her stomach suddenly churning at the thought of slipping off but she swallowed her fear and carried on with what she was saying. "Chloe invited me to go to see her parents back in LA."

"Ah, I didn't know you and Red were a thing. Although I should have guessed really, all those glares I receive every time I'm-"

"N-no, we're not together. Just close friends." Beca corrected her quickly, she found the fact that people always presumed her as Chloe's girlfriend bittersweet. Beca was surprised that she didn't flush red at the mention of being in a relationship with Chloe but she frowned when Calamity raised her eyebrows, a small smile suddenly appearing on her lips as Beca's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What?"

"In that case, when you return from Los Angeles, would you like to go to dinner with me?" Beca's eyes would've popped right out of her head then and there if they weren't attached to her head. _A date?  Did she really want to go on a date? Especially when she knew how she felt about Chloe._ Beca realised her mouth had been partially open so she closed it and did her best to try and find an answer, she didn't want to say no, she didn't want to hurt Calamity and she didn't know if she wanted to say yes. Did she even feel like that about Calamity? "Relax Mitchell, you've got the whole weekend to decide, just let me know when you come back and we'll see how it goes."

Calamity hauled herself to her feet, patting Beca's shoulder before she headed off in the opposite direction. Beca put her head in her hands hoping to find an answer somewhere in there if she concentrated, she hated being left with something to think about it was like someone giving her last minute information on a performance, it rattled her brain. Beca groaned not finding any answer, she liked Calamity she really did, but she didn't get the same feeling from her as she did with Chloe. But her mind travelled to Chicago at some point, reminding her that Chloe had gone on a date with him maybe it would be okay if she went on one with Calamity to see how it went but she wasn't sure. She didn't want to string Calamity along if she wasn't interested. Beca heard a crunching of stones as someone approached and she immediately removed her hands from her face and held onto the stone wall for dear life, just in case whoever it was decided to push her for fun. But she felt someone come to sit down beside her and smiled when she saw Fat Amy take a seat beside her, grunting as she lowered herself next to her and Beca noticed Amy wasn't alone when she felt someone else pop down beside her, Emily sat a little close for comfort but Beca didn't bother asking the Bella to scooch over.

"You've got to stop letting Aubrey get to you, be like me and just mention random things so she doesn't bother you." Amy advised making Beca smile but shake her head. 

"I can handle Aubrey, Amy. This weekend will be a nice break away from her." Beca told her, swinging her legs slightly, keeping her hands pressed on the stone just to assure her safety. Amy frowned, glancing at Emily who just shrugged.

"Then what's got you putting your head in your hands, you only do that when your stressed or trying to think."

Beca was surprised at Amy's ability to read her actions seem as the girl is usually to intrigued by her own awesomeness to notice anything, or anyone else. Beca wondered if she should tell her but she knew Emily and Fat Amy were probably the least judgy so she confessed what Calamity had just asked her, "Calamity just asked me out to dinner when I get back and I don't know what to say."

Both Amy and Emily let out a gasp, shocked by the information. Neither of them said anything for a while, unsure of what to actually say, they weren't exactly amazing at giving romantic advice, it was more of a Chloe thing but they both knew it probably would cause some weird atmosphere between Beca and Chloe if Beca asked her for advice. Emily was the first to speak up, just going with a general reply to these type of things.

"If you like her, you might as well follow your heart." Emily said sweetly making Beca smile, she admired how sweet the young girl was, she wished she could act the same way instead of being grumpy and temperamental when it came to snarky comments.

"Ehhh..." Amy usually made that noise when she'd did something wrong, the noise catching both of the brunettes attention, scared of what Amy could have done but Amy just looked between Beca and Emily. "Beca would never listen to that advice." 

Beca frowned at that. "How would you know?"

Amy just rolled her eyes at Beca's question as though it was obvious. "Because you would have been with Chloe a long time ago if you'd followed your heart."

Beca didn't say anything to that, mainly because Amy was right, she would've broken up with Jesse in a heartbeat and taken up Chloe on her offer in that tent a couple of years back. It sounded harsh to say she'd drop Jesse but she always had a feeling he could sense that she had a slight thing for Chloe although now it wasn't slight, now it was like her heart swelled up every time Chloe flirted or complimented her. God, all that girl had to do was be in a room with her and Beca could go weak in the knees.

"Your silence gives you your answer," Amy finished, Emily warily placed her hand over Beca's making Beca flinch away from the contact, she hated touching but she rolled her eyes and placed her hand back down for Emily to hold making the chirpy brunette smile.

"If you feel like you want to explore what it would be like to be with Calamity in that way, then say yes. But if you know you feel something for someone else, it wouldn't be fair on that woman if you went out with her then changed your mind later," Emily said gently, bumping Beca's shoulder and finally releasing Beca's hand and leaning in a little closer, glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one other than Amy and Beca were listening. "Although if I had to put my opinion out there, I'm totally rooting for you and Chloe alongside Amy."

Beca rolled her eyes as though she didn't care for their opinions but she knew deep down that she was happy that they'd approve if her and Chloe ever did get together. "Thanks, I'll uh, keep that in mind. Speaking of Chloe, she'll be calm now seem as she took a breather. I'd best get a change of clothes on and get the suitcase. I'll see you guys later." Beca smiled, getting to her feet, careful not to trod on Amy or Emily's fingers and moving backwards fast so she was away from the ledge and Emily gave her a little wave and Amy called her goodbye remaining where she was sat.

"Cheerio, my petite little friend." 

 


	7. Chapter 7

Beca stepped into the trailer, she could hear the rustling and slamming of things as soon as she stepped into the trailer the noises practically echoing around the small space and Beca knew Chloe was trying to pack so she entered as though there were a burglar seem as she knew how feisty Chloe could be when trying to sort her clothes into a suitcase. "Chlo?"

Beca heard her name being called although it was hard to hear seem as it sounded like Chloe had a gag in her mouth and Beca followed the source of Chloe's voice, just about managing to open their bedroom door without brushing some clothes on the way in, their room was piled with clothes: sorted in tops, trousers, footwear, long sleeved tops, USO performance clothes and jackets of all sorts just scattered everywhere. Chloe could be found somewhere in the whole mess stressing about which clothes to choose to take with her seem as she had to leave a few behind because she could only have a certain weight in her suitcase and she was only going for the weekend. Chloe emerged from her mess of sleepwear and looked at Beca with pleading eyes to help her and the brunette stepped fully into the room.

"Help me." Chloe begged, giving her best puppy eyes to get Beca to help and with a sigh Beca started going through Chloe's clothes deciding which looked best on her and along with ones that Chloe's mother and father would approve of her wearing. "You're an angel, Beca Mitchell." Beca scoffed at that comment.

"I know more than several people that would disagree to that statement, my father being one of them."

Beca heard Chloe giggle quietly at her words, before returning to selecting certain clothes. "Your father would still think your an angel even if you murdered someone, Beca. I booked the flight yesterday, your ticket is all paid for and I made sure that your sat by the aisle, me in the middle seem as you like to be as further away from the window as you can get. My mum and dad said everything is all set for you, I told them you like chicken so they'll be preparing chicken for the Sunday roast and the flight leaves in four hours, meaning we only have two to get ready because the airport is forty minutes away and we need to be there early to get through all of those horrid lines."

Beca tried to keep up with all the information Chloe was telling her, struggling to keep listening as she tried to mutlitask. Beca smiled though when Chloe mentioned keeping Beca as far away from the window as she could get, Chloe was the only one who knew about her fear of heights. _She discovered it when they were in Aubrey's retreat, everyone but Beca and Chloe had leaped off of the wooden tower, onto the inflatable cushion in the water and then onto the foam pads, Chloe had urged Beca to go first although she could see Beca was nervous she playfully shoved her towards the edge although she'd kept hold of her so she wouldn't actually slip but Beca lost it, she screamed and clung to Chloe like she was a koala to a tree, eyes squeezed shut and muttering under her breath to breathe. It was the day Chloe had felt like she'd done one of the worst things in the world, scare Beca to the point where she was almost in tears. The moment she settled Beca, steering her away from the edge, apologising over and over, keeping them both out of sight of the Bella's she knew were probably wondering what was holding them up. But Chloe stayed with Beca until the girl calmed down agreeing to jump, but Chloe held her hand as tight as she wanted when they jumped, letting her know that she would jump with her and if anything happened, she'd be right beside her. Not just then. Forever._

"You didn't have to get your parents to treat me like I'm some special guest," Beca finally spoke up, sharing a smile with Chloe. "And it's a good thing I didn't unpack my own suitcase otherwise we'd never catch that flight."

"You _are_ a special guest Beca." Chloe replied, "You deserve to be treated like royalty."

Beca just shook her head with a shy smile before returning to the clothes she was folding up to clean up the room a little, placing the needed clothes aside for Chloe to place in her suitcase later. " _So_...why didn't you bring Aubrey, she hasn't visited your family in years." Beca asked, looking up from folding and watching Chloe as her hair fell forward, covering her face as she lifted some clothes, stacking them back into the wardrobe, giving Beca the urge to push it behind her ear so she could see those blue eyes she loved so much, but she didn't.

"Because as much as I love Aubrey, my parents can't tolerate how abrasive she is. They never like any of my friends, that's why you're so special, Beca. They always ask about you, how your doing, sometimes I wonder if it's all just a hoax to keep me happy but they genuinely like you." Chloe said happily, beaming over at Beca as the girl came towards her handing her clothes to pack away.

"So I'm only coming because I'm the only one person your parents actually like?" Beca questioned, she didn't know why that hurt, she'd just been hoping it had been Chloe that had wanted to bring her, not just because her parents liked her best out of the others. As much as she was honoured by it, because she liked Chloe's parents too. She'd just wanted it to be something that Chloe really wanted. Chloe must've seen the sad expression that was swamping Beca's face and thoughts.

"No, not just because they like you Becs, obviously because I want you there. I didn't want to invite anyone else but you, plus I didn't want to spend a weekend away without you and leaving you in the trailer to sadly sing yourself to sleep sounded stupid and cruel." Chloe smiled, stepping over a pile of clothes to reach Beca, taking hold of her upper arms so that Beca was looking at her. "I prefer having you by my side, Becs. You should know that by now."

Beca lowered her eyes to the minimum space on the floor that was left between them, then back up at Chloe, a microscopic smile on her lips as she tried to act as though Chloe's words hadn't made her just want to confess her love to the ginger. Beca didn't know what else to do but her urge to wrap her arms around Chloe couldn't be fought back any longer. Beca let her most of her walls fall down and she pushed the whole touching thing to the back of her mind and stepped into Chloe's arms, closing the space left between them and curling her arms around Chloe's middle, Chloe let out an almost breathless gasp at the contact. Beca was a rare hugger and Chloe would always have the same reaction when Beca held her, it was one of the most comforting things she'd ever felt in her life. Beca rested her chin on Chloe's shoulder as Chloe reciprocated and held Beca back, a smile on her lips and she let her eyes flutter closed, enjoying how much it felt like home.

"I thought you hate hugs, grumpypants." Chloe teased as they held each other and Beca smirked, not stepping out of the already _"too long to be just friends"_ hug.

"I guess you're just a really, really good hugger." Beca replied with a grin of her own, she hated stepping out of the hug but she knew they had a limited amount of time and she still needed to help Chloe and get them something to eat and drink and get her own suitcase, then say goodbye to the Bella's. As much as she'd love to stay in Chloe's arms, she couldn't. "Okay, enough hugging, back to work otherwise we can throw going to visit your parents out of the window."

Chloe groaned, releasing her hold on the little brunette and fixing her hair in a quick motion to hide how disappointed she was about the hug ending. Beca quickly piled up the remainder of clothes that Chloe was leaving behind and placed them neatly in the cupboard, knowing how bothered Chloe could get when she just threw clothes around, Chloe packed the ones she and Beca had chosen as fast as possible so that Beca could pull out her own suitcase and remove some of the clothes she didn't want to take with her. Chloe finished up with hers and went to quickly make them a snack and grab them a drink before they left to say goodbye to The Bella's. They didn't really have much in seem as they usually ate in the canteen and they only brought little snacks for when they got peckish mid-day or they felt like having a midnight snack. But Chloe just grabbed the last two packets of ready salted knowing they were both her and Beca's favourite, then took a couple of protein bars and two bottles of water from the fridge and by the time she'd grabbed what they needed to keep them fed until they arrived at her parents, Beca had finished, rolling her suitcase out of the room, no surprise that Beca's was pitch black with a single sticker of headphones and Beca's was a bright pink that made Beca cringe. Beca reached out to take hold of one of the packets of crisps and then a bar and water, shoving them into her backpack as Chloe placed hers in her handbag and gave Beca a nod that she was ready to leave. 

* * *

 

Beca had texted half of their friends to come and meet them near the front gate where the cab would be waiting for them, putting their bags into the trunk whilst they waited for their friends. Chloe had took the job of texting the other half of their friends and to no surprise they all showed up in a group, smiles on their faces as they headed towards Beca and Chloe who waited patiently. Beca's heart suddenly dipped when she saw Calamity heading over too, her eyes darting to Chloe who seemed to have noticed Calamity too, a stony expression on her face. Beca hadn't texted her and she was almost certain that Chloe wouldn't even have Calamity's number. Beca let out a nervous laugh, what if Calamity was coming over because you didn't want to wait a weekend for an answer? Beca felt as though she was being put in panic mode, a not so pretty smile on her mouth as she looked at the Bella's heading towards her and they all furrowed their brows as they saw her face.

"Jesus Beca, is your face alright?" Aubrey asked, slowing down now as she got closer, Chloe stepped forward curious as to what Aubrey was on about then she placed a hand on Beca's arm, the same look on her face as everyone elses. Beca just shuffled out of Chloe's reach slightly, letting her face fall into a straight face so it showed no emotion at all, one of the faces she was best at and she nodded to the concerned bunch of Bella's.

"Yeah I'm fine, just uh, I'm going to miss you girls." Beca said trying to come up with something, Amy frowned.

"You'll be back by Monday."

"Yeah but...you know, I'm still going to miss yo-" Beca began before getting cut up by Calamity who'd finally made her way over, a beaming smile on her face as she called out to Beca, making Beca flicker her attention to the approaching woman.

"Didn't think you could leave without me getting a goodbye, did you? I saw your little gather of friends and knew that you were heading off." Calamity told her as she paused in front of Beca and the others, giving them each a nod, then finally nodding curtly to Chloe, giving her a little smile even though Chloe kept a scowl on her face. "Fly well, Red."

Chloe rolled her eyes in irritation at the nickname and turned her attention to Aubrey, saying her goodbye and Beca decided it was probably best to say goodbye to Calamity first so that she could go back to her trailer and she could say goodbye to the others.

"You didn't have to come all the way over here, I thought we said our goodbye earlier?" Beca said, stepping a little away from the others just in case Calamity mentioned anything about the date; which Beca was hoping she didn't. Calamity shrugged, needing to look down on Beca as most people did seem as the brunette was so small.

"Well, we didn't even say goodbye, I only asked you a question and I wanted to come over to say goodbye, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to do though. I don't usually say goodbye, I like to just vanish then boom I don't have to do the bye thing." Calamity shrugged, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly. Her eyes looking over to where Chloe was saying her goodbyes hugging her friends and smiling brightly at them. Calamity was sure Beca wasn't a hugger but she dived into a hug anyway, moving fast that Beca let out a gasp at the sudden feeling of someone grasping hold of her. For a second she just froze, she never hugged anyone but Chloe unless she was being force hugged. Beca cleared her throat and patted Calamity's back making the girl let her go, face red. "Sorry, uh-I just saw Red doing it and thought why not?"

Beca straightened her top, her head bowed to hide the red from embarrassment knowing the Bella's saw the awkward hug. They knew she hated being hugged, "No, i-it's fine um let's just...stick to a simple goodbye though, I don't really like being hugged, what with me being tiny and all that." Beca suggested, shifting on the spot not daring to look over at the girls and Calamity smiled.

"Yeah, I'd prefer that too, well I'll see you when you get back, I'd best not keep the girls waiting long. Have a safe flight." Calamity nodded a small smile on her lips as she stepped away, giving Beca a wave as Beca nodded and gave her a short wave back before moving quickly to say goodbye to the other girls ignoring Amy's comments about the hug.

"I can't believe you didn't shove her off, you would've shoved me off." Flo muttered as Beca spoke to her, saying a friendly simple goodbye and she sighed, she hated that Calamity had hugged her but she just ignored Flo and moved on to Ashley and Jessica before eventually moving back to stand beside Chloe who'd been silent but smiled sadly at the girls.

"We'll see you nerds on Monday, don't you are sleep in our trailer either!" Beca warned them as she backed up, Chloe already heading to the cab, sliding into the back seat, Beca giving the girls one last wave before clambering in beside her, the car starting to move. Forty minutes in the cab, Beca hated sitting in cars and before she knew it fifteen minutes had passed and she and Chloe hadn't spoken. Chloe had been texting Aubrey from what it looked like and Beca knew that she should probably say something. "Uh, how long will the flight be?"

Beca wasn't good at small talk. She never had to be seem as she and Chloe _never_ had to have small talk, but Beca couldn't think of anything else to say, she didn't know why Chloe was ignoring her. Chloe spoke without glancing up from her phone, showing Beca she was disinterested. "A couple of hours."

Beca nodded awkwardly, looking back out of the window, glancing at the driver who seemed to have felt the iciness between them and kept his eyes directly on the road instead of looking in the mirror to check on the two. Beca sighed, she couldn't just sit like this for another twenty-five minutes. "Please don't be like this, Chlo. Listen, I don't know what I've done but if you want I'll just get out and call another cab to take me back to the base."

Chloe sighed herself, clicking off her phone so the screen went dark and she looked up at Beca. "It's nothing Beca, you haven't done anything. I just...I thought that was going to be a Bella goodbye, a group hug but we couldn't have one because your friend showed up." Chloe admitted, she knew it was childish, but when she saw Calamity hug Beca it felt like someone had just started to tear out her heart and throw it on the ground whilst yelling to her that she had no chance with Beca, and it hurt. Beca's expression softened as she looked into Chloe's swimming pool like eyes.

"I didn't even know she was going to be there, Chlo. Besides, you know I hate those group hugs, I practically get crushed." Beca said with a gentle laugh but Chloe shifted her eyes to her lap.

"But you hugged Calamity and she's like a giraffe."

Beca shifted over into the middle seat when Chloe said that, she couldn't help but feel like Chloe was jealous and she placed a hand on Chloe's a soft smile curving on her lips as Chloe moved her hand palm up to hold Beca's hand back, intertwining their fingers. "I didn't know that was going to happen either, it took me by as much surprise as the rest of us and anyway she was just copying how you were saying goodbye."

"Copying me?" Chloe asked, arching a brow. Beca nodded, a smirk on her lips.

"But don't worry, her hugs aren't nearly as good as yours," Chloe looked at her the moment she said that and her pearly smile returned and Beca nudged her playfully. "Your the perfect height for me to hug, plus your hair always smells great, I couldn't exactly smell hers because it was too short and I felt like I was being squished. You know that I don't like being hugged around my middle, unless I want too, but rather have you holding me around my shoulders because then I feel safer, you also know when I want a hug and when I don't. You always let me decide if I want to hug you or not and that's why Calamity's hug will never be better than yours."

Chloe's eyes watered up as she listened, sometimes she wondered how Beca could be so emotionless then suddenly come out with something sweet and reassuring like that. Chloe knew she was allowed so she curled her arm around Beca's shoulders, pulling the girl into her side, resting her head against Beca's. "I've hugged many people in my life, but even though you hated hugging...I think your hugs are one of the best too. It's the one time where you let all that grumpiness sink away and you almost seem as happy as I usually am."

 


	8. Chapter 8

The flight was as expected, a usual american flight, reasonably smooth that was until your about to sleep and then the turbulence kidded in, which was a regular problem for Chloe on flights. She'd be on the verge of sleep, sitting contently beside Beca who sat headphones over her ears, in her own little mixing world whilst Chloe was left to speak to whoever she was stuck sat by. Chloe's parents met her at the entrance of the airport to pick them up, she'd been missing her parents more than usual recently and when they asked if she could take a weekend off to visit it didn't take her less than a second to respond in excitement. She was pulling her suitcase along behind her when Beca pushed her headphones off of her ears a smile creeping on her lips and before Chloe could understand why, she followed the brunettes gaze to her beaming parents, her slightly chubby father waving hurriedly, clearly glad to see the pair. Chloe squealed and left Beca's side, hauling her luggage quickly as she weaved around the passing people and collided with her parents, enveloping them in a hug, the pair quickly returning the hug. Chloe could sense that Beca had appeared behind her and she released her parents, allowing Beca to have a chance to greet them. Chloe could tell her parents knew Beca wasn't a hugger by now, they both gave her a sunny nod, smiles all around and Beca returned.

"It's lovely to see you again Mr and Mrs B." Beca greeted, when Chloe had first heard Beca call them that she almost fainted, her parents weren't like her, they couldn't stand nicknames but for whatever reason they laughed sweetly and didn't comment on the nickname, leaving Chloe astonished. But by now they were used to it.

"We're glad you agreed to stay with us, it's been a while." Mrs Beale smiled, her red hair as striking as Chloe's, yet her eyes were a deep muddy brown rather than the gorgeous blue that Chloe had, Beca was never really sure where those came from seem as her fathers were more of a stormy grey rather than blue but either way, Chloe's eyes were one of Beca's favourite facial features of the girl. Mr Beale cut in before Beca had a chance to continue, his eyes flickering from left to right nervously, he'd never been a fan of crowds.

"Now honey, we can catch up when we get home, no need to linger around the front of an airport now is there."

Beca smirked when Mrs Beale rolled her eyes in annoyance, sighing. "I suppose not, help them with their bags, John." Beca shook her head when Mr Beale came forward to take hold of her suitcase, she hated a man needing to take hold of her bag like she wasn't able to do it. Mr Beale didn't seem to care, scooping up Chloe's instead and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek telling her he missed her. Beca rolled her suitcase around them and went to walk beside Chloe's mum. Beca had never really been a people person, but she got along with Chloe's mum pretty well, her father too but Beca secretly preferred talking to Mrs Beale seem as she was actually interested in Beca's music business. "How has that internship been going?"

Beca looked up at Mrs Beale, "It's...um, I resigned." Beca felt slightly ashamed saying it, she could remember Chloe's mother believing that this was the entrance to getting her where she needed to be to be a music producer but it hadn't worked out, she'd been there four years and it lead her nowhere. Even when she worked on new music with Emily, she seemed to remain in the same place and she just ended up giving up, she wanted to move on, find something new.

"Oh," Chloe's mum sounded surprised by Beca's words, but she placed a hand on Beca's shoulder, giving Beca the same smile Chloe did when she thought Beca was upset about something. "Well I'm sure someone will see your performance at the USO's and scoop you up in seconds, who knows, they might want both you and Chloe and you won't have to go your separate."

Beca glanced at the reassuring hand on her shoulder, if it wasn't Chloe's parents she would have shook it off and brushed off the assurance that she'd be seen by someone big during their USO performance, but instead she smiled kindly and took in Mrs Beale's advice. "Hopefully, I do love singing with Chloe."

"She loves singing with you too, it's no wonder though, you two sound perfect together. You'll have to duet again, it sounds so sweet." Beca wanted to groan and decline, she hated having to show off her voice unless it was for a performance, she knew Chloe loved it so she went along with it. The last time Chloe's parents had a family meal, which Beca didn't even know about but when Chloe's aunt asked if they could sing a little piece, Chloe was on her feet in seconds, grabbing Beca's hand so she was on her feet too and she was forced to sing Clarity, one of Chloe's favourites at the time. 

"I'd like to decline, but I have a feeling Chloe would somehow persuade me otherwise," Beca chuckled lightly, shifting her backpack strap on her shoulder so it wasn't digging into her shoulder. They eventually reached the slick black car, Mr Beale clicking open the boot and placing Chloe's bag in and Beca put hers beside Chloe's then followed the waiting redhead into the back seat, her parents in the front. Beca clicked on her seat-belt and leaned into Chloe, keeping her voice low. "Your mum wants us to sing again."

Chloe kept her eyes forward but Beca could see the sparkle in them, the redhead getting excited at the idea and Beca sighed, a smile on her lips. She knew Chloe wanted to duet too, her piercing blue eyes taking a moment to look into Beca's hope flashing in them and Beca felt like she'd been defeated and she broke their eye contact only telling the ginger that she was up to the duet and she bumped shoulders with Beca.

"You love it really, Becs." Chloe could see Beca forcing back a smile, swallowing a snarky comment and it made Chloe giggle, shifting her eyes back to the window, watching the passing palm trees, that was something she loved dearly about LA, it's palm trees, they were beautiful and they fitted in so well with the setting of the city. Plus they were cute, especially by the beach. Chloe was used to growing up in a large house, a pool, master bedrooms, on-suites all that big house stuff and that's why she loved having Beca around. She loved the look of amazement that came on Beca's face every time she stepped into her house, sometimes she teased her about having such a big house, telling her she could of thrown some of the best house parties in history but Chloe had always respected her parents rules when they went away and left her home for the weekend. She wouldn't break her parents trust in her, it was something she held dear.

* * *

By the time Chloe had settled back in her bedroom, transferring her clothes from the suitcase to her cupboard. She hadn't been in her room in months, almost a year. She'd been so focused on vet school and now The Bella's once again that she'd never had time to come and visit her parents. She never changed her bedroom and neither did her parents, it was still the candy pink it was when she was twelve and although it didn't look as bright as it used to be, she didn't want to change anything. It was her memories. Chloe finished up and headed across the hall to the guest room wondering if Beca had finished up too, she tapped lightly on the door, not wanting to be rude, it only took a couple of seconds before she heard a little voice.

"Come in."

Chloe popped her head around the door, her curls falling to the side, draping down as she peeped into Beca's room, the brunette sat cross-legged on the bed; Chloe's brow quirked up as she took a full step into the room, making her way over to Beca, Chloe smiled, Beca looked even smaller than usual on a queen sized bed. 

"Are you ready to head down? I can smell the spaghetti from all the way up here and I've missed my mum's cooking." Chloe asked, propping down on the edge of Beca's bed, smelling the air just to prove her point, licking her lips imagining the taste and Beca felt her stomach flip at Chloe's movement, eyes fixed on the redhead and she nodded clearing her throat. "Good, let's go."

Chloe hopped off the bed in one swift movement, Beca shuffling off the bed behind her and they headed down the curved, mahogany staircase. Chloe could remember racing down the stairs with the dog when she was younger but he'd passed away not long after she started high school, which only made Chloe's high school years even worse. College for her was a fresh start for her, college was were she had first met Aubrey, the prissy blonde immediately taking a shine to her and soon enough she had been accepted into The Bella's. Chloe glanced over at Beca wondering what was going through her mind, she knew it was probably a million things, it always was when it came to Beca, but she liked that about her, the way her mind worked twenty four seven, new ideas flowing in and out, new opinions all of it. Chloe almost tripped when she lost focus on what she was doing and realised Beca had crouched down to lift up Sylvester, her mother's cat. He was a pudgy grey ball of fur, always grumpy and only ever wanting food, Chloe had never liked him seem as every time he approached her he'd his and attempt to scratch at her. Yet she was never surprised when Beca just carried him in her arms so casually and she knew in minutes he'd purr and fall asleep, Beca was about the only other person he liked except her mum.

"I don't know why she still has that damn cat, all he does is eat. It's a surprise you can still pick him up." Chloe muttered, as they headed towards the kitchen, glancing between Beca and the cat, the brunette not really paying attention to her seem as she was absorbed in smothering the cat with love.

"Don't listen to her Chubs, she's just jealous." Beca said in a baby voice, scratching Sylvester beneath his chin knowing it was his favourite spot, Chloe rolled her eyes at Beca's comment. How could she be jealous of a cat? Her focus changed when her stomach grumbled and the three entered the kitchen.

"Please say it's ready, I'm starving." Chloe pleaded, giving her mother big sad moon eyes and her mother just held out a wooden spoon with a meatball balanced on it, smiling brightly at her daughter.

"Your fathers dished it all up but I kept a meatball aside, you always complain you're hungry. We'll eat once the garlic bread is done, which won't be long now." Mrs Beale told her daughter as Chloe skipped forward happily taking hold of the spoon and popping the meatball into her mouth, closing her eyes as the flavour burst in her mouth. It made Beca want to taste one, but she knew she had more patience than Chloe so she returned to smoothing the now sleeping cat in her arms. "I knew it wouldn't be long until he came to find you, he seems to sense when your here Beca."

Beca grinned, "Yeah, cats have always like me for some reason, not that I mind."

Mrs Beale smiled over at Beca then crouched before the oven to check if the garlic bread was ready, Chloe gestured Beca to follow her into the dining room where she knew she'd find her father sneaking a bite of the food behind her mothers back, something on a typical visit Chloe would join in, but Beca was here so she took her usual seat at the table and Beca sat down beside her, smiling a greeting to Mr Beale who'd popped a meatball into his mouth, eyes glancing at the arch way that separated the kitchen from the dining room, cautious of his wife coming through and catching him. Beca could always see the difference in her and the Beale's, her family was broken and gloomy, except her father who was living blissfully with the step-monster, meanwhile, Chloe's family were together and they always seemed happy to be around one another, a upbeat vibe always carried with them. It was no wonder that Mr Beale owned a large business, he was known for his generosity although Beca had seen him be harsh to people when needed be. Beca had been lost in her thoughts when she startled out of it at the sharp dig in her side, eyes shooting down to it spotting Chloe's elbow and she frowned up at the ginger, wondering what she had done.

"Earth to Beca, what has you stuck in your own world once again?" Beca glanced around the table, realising the garlic bread had been set in the middle of the table and Mrs Beale had joined them at the table, all eyes now on her and Beca felt her cheeks burn at the sudden amount of attention and she shrugged.

"Just thinking about how different our families are, you guys are always smiley and nice whereas at my mums it's like misery lives there. It's probably where I got my grumpy behaviour from to be honest." Beca laughed nervously, she could see the Beale's giving each other sympathy looks and she quickly continued, she hated sympathy. "But being with Chloe and the other girls, it makes my life a whole lot brighter." 

Mrs Beale smiled, tucking into her food, spinning the spaghetti around her fork, eyes avoiding the girls and it seemed Chloe had noticed that her mother was hiding something too and Chloe swallowed the food in her mouth and questioned her mother. "What are you not telling us, mum?"

Mrs Beale looked up, a look on her face that made Chloe and Beca furrow their brows, wondering what she could be keeping from them. Mrs Beale cleared her throat and met eyes with John at the end of the table who simply nodded, indicating she was able to say whatever it was. "We've been invited to a party this evening, a business party with friends, but the hosts heard that we were having you home this weekend and thought it would be a wonderful opportunity for you girls to sing a little song. Of course your not singing the whole night, they have a band on. But they thought it would be nice to hear you sing."

"So you told them we will?" Chloe's tone of voice had changed, annoyance clear in it which surprised Beca seem as Chloe was up for singing earlier. Beca stayed quiet, she didn't want to cause conflict and if they wanted her to sing for them she would, as long as Chloe was with her.

"Well yes dear, you love singing in front of people. Plus you get to show off yours and Beca's talents, Beca already said she'd sing earlier, why won't you?" Beca hated being pulled into the disagreement but she didn't say anything, eating her food acting as though she wasn't there. She heard Chloe sigh heavily beside her.

"We've been practising all week, yes Beca agreed and I will too, but just bare in mind that we have worked our asses off all week and if we don't sound as pleasant as you'd like then don't complain." Chloe snapped, ending the conversation and picking at her plate. She wasn't exactly feeling as hungry as she was a few moments. The table only stayed quiet for a few minutes before Mrs Beale spoke up again, the pair listening.

"I know you might not be thrilled about it as I thought you would be, but we went ahead and brought you two both a lovely dress to wear." Beca froze then, she hated dresses, she knew Chloe loved them but the closest thing she wore to a dress was a skirt. But that was only for performances. Chloe looked to Beca, most likely knowing she hated dresses but before Chloe could tell her mother Beca spoke up.

"Thanks Mrs B, you didn't have to do that." Beca smiled politely making Chloe slightly confused but she looked back to her mum.

"Can we see them? They aren't big and flowy are they?" Chloe asked, she might love dresses but she couldn't stand ones that seemed to flow, they just dragged along the floor and it just looked unflattering on her, her mother let out a light laugh and shook her head.

"No Chloe, I think I would know by now what dress you'd wear, I got something I should hope you and Beca would like. The party doesn't start until nine, you've got an hour to get ready, Terry will be driving us there and back seem as I have a feeling there will be drinks there. But please don't drink so much, this is business remember?" Her mother warned, Chloe smiling over her shoulder to Beca who perked up at the sound of drinks, maybe this would be more bearable that she thought although she knew she was allowed a minimum of two or three drinks knowing she can get a little wild after more than three. "I can see your eager to see them so your excused, there will be snacks being served at the party anyway, the dresses are in my wardrobe."

Chloe beamed at her mum and quickly wiped her mouth with the napkin not wanting sauce around her mouth and was on her feet, giving Beca wide eyes for her to follow. Beca groaned, taking a big mouthful she'd wanted to finish eating first but she guessed Chloe had other plans, she cleaned her mouth and respectfully tucked in hers and Chloe's chair and rushed after the speedy redhead. Chloe kept glancing back to see if Beca was keeping up which she was barely doing, having to take a breather every now and then because the stairs felt like a marathon. But _eventually_ , she reached Chloe's parents room, in which Chloe was already jumping happily at the sight of their dresses. Beca noted that she'd take a look when the stitch that had appeared in her side vanished. Chloe pulled a dress off of a hanger and held it up to Beca. It was a soft cloud white, something Beca wouldn't of chosen for Chloe seem as the girl never wore white, but she could picture the dress on her and honestly, she thought Chloe looked beautiful in anything she wore. The lace at the top ended at the sleeves, floral details woven into it, the dress ending just above her knees and Beca could already tell she'd looked incredible. Chloe placed hers gently on the bed and reached in for what she guessed was Beca's. The moment she saw it she smiled, Beca might hate dresses but this one was beautiful.

Beca got up from the seat she'd sat in and ran her hand over the soft material the matte black chosen wisely, she was thankful it wasn't pink. It was almost identical to Chloe's yet her sleeves were shorter and the dress had fine details woven into that Chloe's didn't. It was beautiful. Beca glanced up from the dress to the redhead holding it and she smiled softly.

"I'd never thought I'd see the day where Beca Mitchell loved a dress." Chloe smirked, eyes sparkling as Beca's blue eyes danced with her own. "My mother might not be polite to ask us about singing at one of her big parties, but she sure as hell knows how to pick out a dress."

"Now I see where you get your fashion sense from," Beca grinned, taking the dress out of Chloe's hands when she passed it to her, picking up her own one and nudging Beca to leave the room. "We have an hour to be ready, I'm not sure I can look at least presentable in that time." Chloe let out a laugh.

"Beca all you have to do in slip into that dress and then my mother's hair stylist will take us from there and whilst the stylist styles our hair, she'll have two make-up artists putting on our face." Chloe told her, "Believe me, we'll either be exactly on time or fashionably late, which is always acceptable in this family."

Beca's eyes widened, she'd never had a make-up artist before nor a hair stylist. Chloe really did live in style. The two girls drifted apart to go and change, Beca leaving for her room and Chloe going to hers. Chloe was hesitant on letting a stylist touch her hair, she only liked to put certain oils and sprays into it and she was wary about whatever the stylist put into her hair, she didn't want to damage it not when she had the USO's in a few weeks. The dress slipped on relatively easy, thankfully she'd packed a white bra so that she didn't have to go bra-less, she twisted her body in her full length mirror to get a better look at what she looked like and she was satisfied with her mothers choice. It made her wonder what song they were going to sing and she noted to ask her mother once she came downstairs. She slipped on the white heels that had been put in bedroom and heading out, she wondered if she should go across to Beca's room but she knew the stylist was waiting so she went ahead.


	9. Chapter 9

Her mother passed her the lyric sheet and Chloe sighed, rolling her eyes at the paper she already knew the words perfectly, yet her mother still insisted on going over the lyrics like she'd suddenly forget. But she knew she wouldn't it was the first song she sang with Beca, not even erasing her memory could get those lyrics out of her head. "I'm sure me and Beca know all the lyrics mum, what I want to know is why we're going to be singing such an upbeat song at a business party, isn't it usually a bunch of orchestral music?" Chloe winced as the hair stylist tugged at her hair, she was having her hair done in the same room as her mother but Beca was having hers done upstairs in her room which confused Chloe but she didn't bother questioning her mother. Her mother let out a sigh as big as hers earlier and spoke.

"Because Chloe, the woman hosting the party loves this song and she asked for it so I told her you could sing it for her, besides shes one of the younger generation like you, so she likes that kind of music." Her mother explained, the hair stylist finishing up with her mothers hair which was a fancy top bun, a plait braided around it and a couple of fancy hair pins placed in her hair. Chloe's was a little more technical, she was having it re-curled, and half of it was being pulled up into a high half up half down hairstyle, a decorative pin keeping it all together, the hair stylist had to back brush it several times to give volume to the front of her hair, the back in a bunch of messy curls and once it was all done Chloe had to hand it to the hair stylist, it looked perfect, the style making her eyes pop even more than usual. She wondered if Beca was having the same as her, if so then the hair dresser was taking a lot longer than usual, Chloe had her make put on her whilst she was having her hair done, she had a nude lipstick and slightly natural make-up, except the smokey eyes-which she loved. "Beca should be finished in around five minutes, I'm going to go and check on your father to make sure he isn't stuffing his face before we leave, call me in here once Beca's down."

"Will do." Chloe called as her mother wandered out of the room, Chloe left the hair stylist to pack away all of her items, closing her suitcase and shooting Chloe a smile before leaving in a hurry, Chloe guessed she had another customer to attend too. The sound of the tapping of heels on the mahogany pulled her from her thoughts and she felt her mouth dry when her eyes landed on Beca, the brunette may looked funny as she struggled down the stairs in her heels but Chloe felt like someone had just knocked the air out of her lungs, she looked like she'd just stepped out of a modelling catalogue, she looked gorgeous. Chloe placed the sheet of lyrics onto the coffee table and ran to help Beca walk steadily down the stairs, the brunette murmuring a thank you as she kept her eyes on the stairs, clearly terrified she was going to fall. But as soon as she took a safe step onto the hallway and got a look at Chloe, it was her turn to be lost for words eyes fixed on Chloe unable to hide her heart eyes for the girl in that moment and Chloe could feel her cheeks burning.

" _Chloe!_ " Chloe almost tripped as she jumped at the sound of her name, hers along with Beca's head snapping towards her mother and father who were heading down the hallway towards them. "I told you to let me know when Beca came down, you look beautiful Beca, I knew that dress would look magnificent on you." Mrs Beale said proudly.

Beca felt herself blush. "Thank you Mrs B, it's perfect, I love it and the hair, you really didn't need to do all of this. It must've cost a fortune."

"Oh money's no problem dear, come on our ride is waiting." Mrs Beale quickly ushered them towards the front door and out into the garden, leaving Mr Beale to lock up, Beca's eyes widened at the limo style car they were going in and she smiled excitedly at Chloe who gave her the same smile back.

"Just checking, you know remember all the words to _Titanium_ right?" Chloe whispered, Beca nodded and Chloe released a breath. "Thank god, we're going to be singing it later tonight."

"We're singing our song at a business party," Beca grinned, Chloe smirked as she walked around the limo to where the driver held open the door for her and her family to climb in. "You think we can pull it off?"

"We won't just pull it off, we're still going to ace that shit, Becs." Chloe grinned as she sat down on the opposite side of the limo than Beca, sitting in front of her as her father took a seat beside Beca and then Mrs Beale took her place beside Chloe, admiring all of their outfits. "You look amazing by the way."

Beca's heart thudded when Chloe did her signature flirty wink, Beca's eyes flickered to Chloe's parents wondering what they thought of Chloe's flirting but they seemed more focused on brushing down any dust that had touched their clothes so Beca let her eyes look back to Chloe which hadn't left hers and a grin came upon her face.

"I think you should see yourself, Chicago would be knocked off his feet if he saw you right now." Beca let her eyes flickered over Chloe but quickly back to Chloe's who'd raised an eyebrow but kept a smile on her face, taking the compliment even though she couldn't care less about what Chicago thought on what she was wearing right now, she just cared about Beca's thoughts. Which right now were clearly positive seem as she'd checked her out more than four times since they'd sat down.

* * *

Chloe was right about being fashionably late but no one seemed fazed about it as she'd thought. It wasn't ever a big deal if you were rich and late, people greeted them as soon as they stepped in, The Beales first and Chloe and Beca walking in behind them, attention shifting to them when Mrs Beale and Mr Beale introduced them to people, Beca secretly hated it, even the compliments on how she looked. She couldn't stand meeting loads of people at once, it could be overwhelming but she still put on a smile and remained by Chloe's side as much as she could keeping a smile on her face because she knew she had a resting bitch face and that could seem like she hated being here. Mr and Mrs Beale had vanished in the crowd somewhere leaving Chloe and Beca to do what they like. The house was just as large as Chloe's except this one had a large hall and Beca could only guess that would be where they had to sing later on, she could hear the soft booming of pop music, ,she gathered the woman must've been quite young seem as she listened to pop music and her house looked a little less...old style, it was decorated like a modern woman would decorate it. Chloe almost got bombarded with a bunch of random questions, people herding her but Beca ended up pulling her out of the gather of people and into a clearing, hating the crowded atmosphere.

"How long until we-" Beca began before she was interrupted by the sound of hers and Chloe's name being called out. Beca's eyes swept the grand hallway, eyes scanning for the source of the voice, the white on the walls as white as the dress Chloe wore. Chloe groaned making Beca followed the redheads line of gaze and she found a tall redhead rushing forward, someones hand clasped in hers, clearly pulling the poor person along with her.

"God mum stop bringing these poor women over, let them come over willingly." Chloe sighed, taking a sip of the champagne as her mother came to a stop in front of her and the woman she was pulling along stepped out from behind her. She was around Chloe's age, maybe a year or two older, ash blonde hair pulled back into a curled pony tail, Chloe couldn't help but smile, she reminded her of Aubrey. Except her posture was perfect, she had deep chocolate brown eyes rather than blue and she was only slightly taller than Beca. Chloe held out her hand, "I'm Chloe, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Eloise Newman, I don't mind coming over here, I was actually hoping I could find you two before you sung. It means a lot that she agreed to sing for me...well...us." The chirpy blonde smiled, Chloe could hear a slight hint of a British accent as the woman spoke, Eloise shifted her focus to Beca, not having introduced herself yet. "It's lovely to meet you, both of you."

Beca shook the woman's hand, thankful there was no hugging and nodded. "Thank for having us," Eloise shrugged as though it was nothing and waited expectantly for Beca who stood there a little confused by the staring and Chloe gave nervous laugh, jabbing Beca in the side making the brunette frown. "Dude!"

"Introduce yourself." Chloe hissed and Beca almost jumped, feeling like an idiot for forgetting. 

"Sorry uh, I'm-I'm Beca." Beca felt her cheeks light up in embarrassment, wanting to sit in the corner and place her head in her hands until the party was over, she'd embarrassed herself already. Eloise didn't seem to mind, she just laughed sweetly and complimented Beca's name. She glanced over her shoulder, clearly spotting someone she knew and she looked back to the three woman with an apologetic expression.

"I'll come to see you once you finish performing, I'm sorry, I've got to go." Eloise said quickly, giving them little smiles before diving back into the crowd to get to whoever had sparked her interest. Chloe raised her eyebrows at Beca, a playful expression on her face and Beca rolled her eyes.

"I know Beale, I don't know why I thought I'd already introduced myself, I felt like such an idiot." Beca grumbled miserably, at some point Mrs Beale had gone off on her own once again and Chloe just smiled down at her friend, bumping her hip into Beca's making the girl stumble in her heels and Chloe completely forgot the girl wasn't used to them, her eyes widened as Beca reached for Chloe to steady her, Chloe grabbing her waist to make it easier to keep the brunette on her feet and thankfully she managed not to drop the glass of champagne she held in her hand. "Now whose the idiot?"

Chloe shook her head, eyes taking a quick glance at the lack of space between them seem as Chloe had pulled Beca flush against her, she could feel the blood rush to her cheeks and Beca seemed to have followed her gaze, her own face lighting up and they cleared their faults, both flustered and stepping apart from one another to create distance. They didn't dare look around to see if anyone had saw them. Chloe giggled lightly realising how silly they must've looked and Beca reached out taking a hold of her drink.

"Hey!" Chloe exclaimed, trying to snatch it back but Beca was small and quick and she'd downed the champagne in seconds making Chloe slap her playfully. "I was going to drink that."

"There was only a little left and we do need you sober for our duet, I can't have you slurring up there." Beca teased, placing the empty glass on a passing waiters tray and giving a little curtsy to Chloe, a familar grin on her face and twinkle in her eye. "Come along Miss Beale, we have a duet to sing."

"You'll start right? Just like last time." Chloe asked, linking her arm through Beca's as they made their way towards the large hall filled with people. Beca smiled up at her.

"We wouldn't be in this room if it was just like last time," Beca winked making Chloe stifle a laugh as they headed towards the leveled platform. "Yes, I'll start if you like,  but don't leave me hanging. Those people are more interested in your voice rather than mine."

Chloe grumbled under her breath so only Beca could hear as they kept walking, spotting Eloise not too far away, waiting patiently to introduce them both to their audience. "I don't even want the business after dad retires, my mother knows it and so does my father. Yet they still parade me around like a trophy on a display case."

Beca patted Chloe's arm which was still linked with hers and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well...for now your just singing for them, not taking over the company. So enjoy it and once its over we can drink all we want." Beca smirked knowingly, the last time they drunk as much as they wanted they'd ended up near the side of the pool. But she was sure they wouldn't get that hammered, at least not whilst Chloe's parents were there.


	10. Chapter 10

"Ladies! It's time to sing, Eloise is annoucing you now." A waiter told them, Chloe gave the waiter a curt nod before taking up Beca's hand to head towards where they were going to be singing. Chloe could only feel the butterflies rising in her stomach as she moved through the crowd, feeling Beca clasp onto her hand too making Chloe push down a smile. It only took a few minutes of _sorry's_ and _excuses_ _me's_ before they finally reached where Eloise was introducing them.

"Ah, here they are!" Eloise began, smiling down at the pair still hand in hand. "I'd like to thank you once more for singing here for me, I know you've been busy practising for the next competition you are competing in. And it means a lot that you've taken a break to sing for us."

Beca just bowed her head not liking the attention whilst Chloe just waved her hand waving off what the blonde was saying as though it was nothing. Beca noticed that hers and Chloe's hands were still laced together and as quick as lightning she pulled away, the movement so sharp Chloe looked hurt and Beca instantly felt bad. But Beca was really used to PDA, and she didn't want people to get the wrong idea and try to talk with them about their relationship. It was awkward enough having Amy know about her feelings for Chloe. Before Beca knew what was happening she had a microphone being pushed into her hand, she sucked in a breath she knew she'd have to not think about the first time they sung this song whilst she sang. She hadn't been able to listen to this song since, because it flooded her mind with memories that made her flustered just thinking about them.

"You ready?" Chloe asked the brunette, clearly noticing she kept checking out and Beca nodded across to her. Beca forced herself not to focus on all the suits and dresses of older people looking at them as they readied to sing. "Good, we'll be great."

It was Chloe's reassuring wink that put a smile on her face and she closed her eyes, 

 _You shout it out_  
_But I can't hear a word you say,_  
 _I'm talking loud not saying much_  
 _I'm criticized but all your bullets ricochet_  
 _You shoot me down, but I get up_

Chloe had joined in by the last line, her voice filling Beca's ears, she'd forgotten how beautiful they sounded together when they sung this song.

_I'm bulletproof nothing to lose, Fire away, fire away,_

_Ricochet, you take your aim_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_

Beca's voice matched perfectly with Chloe's, the song soft and gentle rather than upbeat and lively like the original version. Chloe kept her distance close to Beca, there wasn't much space for them to stand anyway but she was always by Beca when they sung, it was something that had become something that was always constant in their performances. Beca let Chloe sing the next few lines, joining in once the chorus came around.

 _Cut me down_  
_But it's you who has further to fall_  
 _Ghost town, haunted love_  
 _Raise your voice, sticks and stones may break my bones_  
 _I'm talking loud not saying much_

 _I'm bulletproof nothing to lose_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_Ricochet, you take your aim_  
_Fire away, fire away_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium_  
_You shoot me down but I won't fall_  
_I am titanium, I am titanium_

Beca was slightly surprised how the audience had gone silent, listening with everything they had. It was only Beca's and Chloe's voice being heard around the hall, there was no doubt they could be heard from the other rooms too.  

_Stone-hard, machine gun_  
_Firing at the ones who run_  
_Stone-hard, thus bulletproof glass_

  _You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium_

_You shoot me down but I won't fall, I am titanium..._

 Both Chloe and Beca lowered their mics, smiling brightly at one another knowing they sounded amazing. It was a round of applause that pulled them from their own world and they both took a bow, stepping aside as Eloise came towards them, surprising them both with a hug making Beca almost immediately uncomfortable, but she kept the smile on her face to be respectful.

 "Gosh, that was beautiful. You two have incredible voices, it's no wonder your champions." Eloise beamed, taking hold of both their free hands giving them grateful squeezes and the girls smiled.

 "It was a pleasure, Eloise. You've got good taste in music." Chloe told her, giving the girl another hug before Mr and Mrs Beale came over, just as thrilled as Eloise. Beca was receiving more hugs than she'd have liked, Mrs Beale wrapping her in a hug and Mrs Beale joining in, eventually pulling Chloe in too. A group hug. Beca could hear Chloe giggling happily and she chuckled herself.

 "You girls were wonderful!" Mr Beale exclaimed, squeezing their shoulders proudly.

 "We're proud of both of you, the USO's don't have a clue whats going to hit them." Chloe's mum told them fondly and Beca felt a little swell in her heart. This is what it felt like to have a happy, functioning family.

 "Well, I think Becs and I deserve a drink. We'll see you guys later." Chloe grinned, looking to each of her parents as they nodded.

 "Be at the front door in an hour, that's when I told Terry to come and collect us." Mrs Beale called, Chloe gave her a quick they'll be there and she vanished in the crowd of people buzzing with life, Beca could hear compliments on their performance and she couldn't help but feel proud of herself and Chloe.

"Excuse me, ladies! Excuse me!" A boyish voice called out from somewhere amongst the crowd, making Chloe and Beca pause their mission of getting alcohol and see who was calling them. A tall, ash blonde haired boy stepped out, Beca was starting to get surprised at how many young people were actually here. "I-I just wanted to say you were remarkable up there."

Beca and Chloe exchanged looks. "Thank you, it was nothing big really. Considering our usual performances."

"Ah, yes. I've seen a couple of your performances, my friend has been to a few of the competitions, I've always been a fan of The Bella's. It's an honour that your here." 

Chloe raised her eyebrows, it was rare that they actually met any of their fans seem as they weren't exactly that huge of a group. 

"Anyway, I uh, just wanted to let you know I'll be attending the USO's, you've already got my vote. I'm sure your father is going to be thrilled you'll be joining his company. My father and yours work with one another and I'd be thrilled to be working alongside you, Miss Beale." Beca knew he was talking to Chloe now so she stepped aside, letting the boy talk to Chloe who'd gone nervous at the mention of the company.

"Uh, thank you. Yeah I-I look forward to um working alongside you too." Chloe wanted out of this conversation before she had to talk anymore about the business. Chloe looked to Beca for help, pleading her with her eyes as much as she could. She could see the brunette had clicked on and Beca stepped in.

"You're real sweet, but uh, I really want a drink after singing so I'm going to steal Chloe and take her with me." Beca declared earning a nod from the boy and gesturing Chloe to follow her the rest of the way through the crowd. "That boy will be pestering your poor parents about when you're going into business."

Chloe groaned, coming to walk closely beside Beca, lowering her voice because of the numerous nosy people. "I couldn't just announce to him that I have no interest in joining the business, he'd probably announce it to the whole house and then people will be on my parents back."

"Relax Chlo. You don't have to explain it to me." Beca gave her a little smile and turned to the man who was serving the drinks. "Two beers please, no need for glasses."

The man seemed surprised by her choice, his eyes drifting over hers and Chloe's figure and Beca glared.

"Our eyes are up here." At her words the mans eyes snapped down the the iced freezer, pulling out two beer bottles, popping the caps off and handing them to Beca and Chloe.

"You know Becs, it's not really lady-like for us to be drinking out of bottles at a party like this." Chloe snicked taking a swig of her drink and Beca scoffed.

"When have I ever cared about lady-like? Besides we just sang amazingly for these people, the least they can do is let us drink out of a bottle."

Chloe smiled down at her brunette and shook her head with a smile, by her side as they watched people begin to dance, giving Chloe the sudden urge to dance with Beca, she held out her hand offering it to the brunette who raised an eyebrow in question. Chloe sighed,

"I'm offering you to dance with me." Beca's eyes widened at that, not liking that idea at all, she wasn't exactly the worst dancer but she'd already sung tonight, there was no need to dance either. But before she could even shake her head, Chloe had taken hold of her bottle and placed it down a near by table and she took hold of both of Beca's hand and soon enough the pair were on the dance floor. Beca listened to the pace of music, mouth suddenly going dry.

"Chlo, this is a slow song."

"You think two girls can't slow dance together?" Chloe questioned with a grin, she wasn't going to back out of the dance she'd always wanted to have a slow dance and she wasn't going to miss a chance to have one with Beca. Beca shook her head.

"No, of course not but-"

Chloe had pulled her close before she could finish, face suddenly inches from hers, perfect kissing distance and she hooked her arms around Beca's neck, a pearly smile on her lips as she waited for Beca to reciprocate. A bundle of nerves had suddenly built up in her stomach, making her freeze, eyes glued to Chloe's not knowing what to do and it was only when Chloe clucked her tongue and moved her hands from Beca's shoulder, taking hold of Beca's hands and placing them on her waist, then moving her arms back to where they previously were.

"Honestly Beca, sometimes I wonder how you can even dance when we do our performances." Chloe laugh rung in her ears, making Beca's face flush pink, she knew no matter how much make-up she had on, it wasn't going to hide the blush. She was doing her best to not focus on where her hands were, as well as not trying to over-think the lack of distance between them. "Your so tense, have you seen someone you don't want to see? Oh god, Jesse isn't here is he?"'

Chloe knew that boy had a habit of showing up randomly and sometimes she just wanted to punch him just to get him to leave, Chloe watched as Beca finally forced her eyes to look into Chloe's, she wondered if she'd hit a sore spot somewhere in Beca, although she knew that Beca had been the one to break it off with Jesse.

"What? No. I just...I don't do slow dances." Beca murmured, eyes returning to looking everywhere but at Chloe. The close proximity between them only made her nervous and she was scared if she looked up Chloe would be even closer than she was before, meaning she wasn't sure if she'd be able to hold herself back any longer. Chloe felt her heart deflate, she loved dancing with Beca but she stopped swaying, careful not to bump into the couple beside them.

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable Beca, we can stop if you like." Chloe told her, looking at Beca with sad eyes but the brunette's seemed to mirror hers, suddenly moving her hands a little more on Chloe's waist, doing her best to relax and she gently shook her head.

"No, it's...it's fine. Let's keep dancing." Beca smiled, which made Chloe's smile return and she shuffled a little closer to Beca as they began to sway once again to the soft beat of the music. She half expected Beca to look everywhere but at her like she had moments ago but she didn't, her eyes remained locked on Chloe's, that familiar quirking on her lips and Chloe could feel how her heart raced a million beats per second. "I like dancing with you."

Chloe giggled, bowing her head as her cheeks blushed before looking back to the brunette in her arms. "Funny, I quite like dancing with you too. Singing as well of course." And that's where the two remained for the rest of their time at the party, dancing together in the hall, only focused on one another and shooing whoever asked them to dance. The only person they wanted to dance with was one another.

* * *

 It was only when they'd got back home and when the days events had drifted out of her mind that she'd started to think about the question she'd been asked before she left. Beca wasn't sure why it decided to come into her mind now. She clambered into bed after changing into her pyjamas, trying to weigh the results of what would happen if she said yes and the results if she said yes. Beca wasn't sure how long she'd been thinking about it since she got into bed, she debated on mixing just to get the question to stop bouncing around in her mind but she knew she couldn't avoid finding an answer for much longer. Calamity would be wanting an answer when she returned.

A creak coming from her door finally moved the question to the back of her mind, they'd came back at one, which was most likely an hour ago now. Beca's eyes stared wide at the door wondering who it was, jumping out of her skin when she felt something jump onto her lap, making her suck in a gasp, knowing it would probably wake the others.

" _Sylvester!_ Jesus dude, you scared the hell out of me." Beca scolded but pulled him into her so that she could smooth him, it didn't take long until he was curled up and purring in her arms like a baby. Beca shifted slightly so that she could press her back against the wall, resuming to her thoughts as the cat slept in her arms. "You should be thankful your not a human, you don't have people expecting answers from you. You seem to have nothing to worry about."

"That's a lie, he worries about being fed, about not having you around to cuddle him, about the birds in our trees flying off for the winter leaving him with nothing to catch but mice," The voice didn't scare Beca, but she slightly was surprised to hear that Chloe was still awake, she gathered she'd have been the first to fall asleep after the party. "Now care to tell me whats been keeping you awake?"

Beca could just about see the glint of Chloe's red hair as she passed the crack of light streaming through the curtain, heading over to Beca, wary of the cat as she sat beside her but he remained asleep, too tired and at peace to bother to hiss at her. Beca wasn't sure if she should tell Chloe about what Calamity had asked her, she knew it would probably make her uncomfortable seem as she hated Calamity already. But Beca knew Chloe would only sense if she was lying so she told her anyway.

"Calamity came to see me after I left from rehearsals on Friday," Beca began, the subject already making Chloe shuffle slightly in discomfort. "And...and she uh, asked me if I wanted to have dinner with her...you know, like a date kind of thing."

" _Oh_."

It was all Chloe said, it was all she could think of in that moment. Chloe always knew Calamity likes Beca, she just didn't realise that Calamity would actually ask Beca out. Chloe cleared her throat, even though her heart had sunk at knowing Calamity asked Beca out. Beca hadn't told her what she answered.

"And uh, what did...what did you say?"

Beca sighed, stroking Sylvester's soft fur then glanced over at Chloe. "Nothing. She said I didn't have to decide until we got back."

"Oh," Chloe repeated, she mentally slapped herself for saying the same thing again. The disappointment in her voice was more clear than she was hoping. Chloe knew she couldn't be selfish, she wanted to do whats best for Beca, what would make Beca happy., even though she knows it will kill her inside. "If she makes you happy, then...then I think you should say yes."

Chloe could sense Beca look at her when she said it, Beca was analysing her words like she always did. But eventually Beca sighed, lifting a sleepy Sylvester from her lap and placing him onto the floor before pulling up the thick blanket over herself and Chloe the redhead helping her adjust it. 

"Lots of people make me happy, Chlo. Okay maybe not _lots_...but the Bella's make me happy, your family makes me happy." Chloe knew it was hard explaining what she meant by happy to Beca but she told her anyway.

"I mean...happy as in you can see a happy future with her, where she gives you butterflies when your around her or-or when she's around you even for a little moment you just want to hold her and tell her how you feel, where without her...everything is dull...I mean, do you _love_ her?" Chloe finished, her eyes trained only on Beca's, her whisper no longr a whisper. She was talking to her in such a way that she'd never meant anything else she'd ever said, they way she meant this. Because this was how Beca made her feel.

Beca had gone silent, absorbing every word Chloe let out with such passion. She knew the redhead was speaking from her heart and that only made Beca's own heart thud a little faster the longer she kept her eyes on Chloe's blue ones.

"No," Beca finally breathed, still watching Chloe whose shoulders seemed to relax at her answer. "I don't love her."

Chloe wanted to stand up and cheer but she remained by Beca's side, taking a deep breath and smiling softly to the woman. "Then you know your answer."

"Have you ever felt like that about someone?" Beca blurted it out before she could stop herself, but she was curious to know, Chloe suddenly went shy-which was something rare for Chloe.

Chloe broke eye contact, fiddling with her hands in her lap, it was a nervous habit she'd developed since she was little. "Yes."

Beca knew it would be overstepping the line asking who it was, so she didn't continue. She just shuffled and led down on her pillow, glancing over at the redhead who'd shifted her gaze back to her, wondering if she wanted her to leave or to stay. Chloe didn't particularly want to go back to her room, she'd gotten so used to Beca being in a room with her, talking until they fell asleep that without her there, it seemed impossible to even get a wink of sleep.

"Are you sleeping in here tonight?" Beca asked quietly, she guessed Sylvester had crept off somewhere else, miserable that she'd moved him just to be with Chloe. Chloe moved swiftly to lay down beside her in the double bed, neatening the blanket as she led down. "What was keeping you awake anyway?"

Chloe twisted so she was facing Beca, eyes darting between her eyes and lips. She so badly wanted to lean in and kiss her, tell her that it was her that made her feel how she had described, but she didn't. It was too risky. "Too much alcohol." She lied, Beca furrowed her brows in suspicion but she was too tired to question it.

"Right, well, sleep well Chlo." Beca mumbled, finally letting her eyes fall shut and Chloe smiled happily, shuffling a little closer to Beca savouring the warmth.

"Goodnight, Becs." She whispered back, letting the sleep overcome her as she led contently beside Beca, falling asleep with a smile on her face as she did almost every night when she was with Chloe.


	11. Chapter 11

Chloe had gotten up before Beca, slipping out of bed silently only to end up stepping on Sylvester's tail causing him to hiss and violently attack her foot, Chloe had apologised more than three times but he stalked off in a mood as always and Chloe glanced over her shoulder to check if she had woken Beca. But she was still sound asleep, muffled snores coming from beneath the blanket where she had buried her face at one point during the night. Chloe felt a warm wave over her body as she looked at Beca, the girl sleeping so peacefully, she looked a lot less angry when she slept, it was as though sleep took away all the grumpiness she always seemed to have and just made it disappear until she woke up the next morning. Chloe headed over to her wardrobe across the room, feeling creepy for staring at Beca and she slipped on her slipper she had worn into the bedroom the night before. Chloe crouched down to look into the dresser's mirror, cringing when she realised she still had last nights make-up on. Thankfully they kept most of their spare things in the guest room so she found an unopened pack of make-up wipes and quickly cleared her face before heading downstairs, hoping not to stumble upon Sylvester again, she already had a few cuts from where he'd clawed her leg.

Chloe always found it strange walking around her large home in the mornings, even when she was young. There was a eery atmosphere that always hung over the house, a chill that was only there in the morning and the silence was almost unbearable, Chloe hated it. Mornings were her least favourite time of the day and she was sure a lot of people would agree with her on that one, but something always seemed off, she'd told her mother about it when she was younger but her mother always shooed her off saying the house was old, it was bound to have a weird atmosphere to it so Chloe pushed it out of her mind and learned to live with it. But it wasn't until not that she remembered how much she disliked it, walking down the hallway with it's intense feeling hanging in the air, she guessed it was just the fact that she'd seen more horror films than when she was younger but the house gave her chills. It was so big and with only her parents living in it and the occasionally visit from her aunt and Terry coming in and out, it was just so empty. Chloe had decided when she turned fourteen that even if she did inherit the house when she was older, she wouldn't live in it, she'd sell it to good owners even though it carried her childhood, she'd just never imagined living in a house as big as her parents when she was older and had her own family. It wasn't somewhere she wanted to settle.

"Your awake early, kitten." Her father said as she walked into the kitchen, a tired smile on her face as she headed over to where he was cooking bacon and placed a kiss on his cheek.

"I've had to get up at seven every morning for the past couple of weeks for drill, it must've took an effect on my sleeping pattern," Chloe mumbled, pulling out a stool and popping herself down onto it, resting her head on her hand. She wondered if the other Bella's were awake right now, although she knew most of them had to use an alarm to get up on time, for some reason Chloe just seemed to wake up when she needed too. "Where's mum?"

Her father turned with the frying pan, moving the spatula in his other hand to lift the bacon out of the pan and onto a plate without trouble, his tongue sticking out in concentration. Chloe always used to giggle at it but today she was curious as to where her mother had got to. "She's sat in the living room watching _Good Morning America_ , I'm surprised you didn't guess."

"I forgot she still watches that, aren't you making her breakfast?" Chloe's eyes fell on the single plate her father had gotten out clearly for himself and he shook his head.

"Your mother eats some wheat nonsense now, I told her bacon is good protein but you know what your mother's like, all about being healthy nowadays, is Beca still sleeping?" Her father asked, placing the pan into the sink swilling water around it then leaving it to soak before he moved onto his other pan on the over, two eggs cooking in it.

It was Chloe's turn to shake her head. "Beca likes to sleep in, she's never really one to wake up early and there was no way I was waking her, she just even grumpier than usual if you wake her up."

"Understandable." Her father chuckled as he concentrated on his food, Chloe slid off of the stool and calling back to her father as she headed out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to say good morning to mum, enjoy your breakfast, smells delicious!" Chloe called, hearing a muffled reply from her father as she disappeared down the hall and into the living room where she found her mother planted in her usual seat, eyes on the television until she heard Chloe's footsteps as she made her way around to sit down on the couch. "Morning mum."

"Good morning, Chloe. Did you have fun yesterday?" Chloe wasn't surprised that her mother started the conversation like that, she was always curious if Chloe had liked an event she'd taken her too, to be fair Chloe lied half the time saying she enjoyed it when she really hated it. But Chloe smiled.

"Believe it or not, I had a wonderful time." Chloe beamed happily, her answer making her mother look at her and smile sweetly, her face slightly surprised but she didn't say anything.

"I'm glad you had fun, dear. I know you aren't really fond of those type of things and you and Beca sang so beautifully up there last night, Eloise couldn't stop talking about you." Her mother said it with such happiness that Chloe felt like she'd done something even better than win the championships for almost half of the acapella competitions. Chloe saw her mother glance behind her to the way she'd come through and knew who she was looking for.

"Beca's still sleeping." Chloe told her, her mother brown eyes drifted back to Chloe's blue ones, something in them that was unreadable and Chloe opened her mouth to question it but her mother had already started talking, saying something that made Chloe's heart jumped into her throat.

"I came to check on you this morning," Her mother spoke, Chloe tensing as soon as the words left her mothers mouth. "But you weren't in your room...so I went to see if Beca was in hers, just in case you two had decided to go on a walk about early this morning, but I-I saw you were sleeping in bed with Beca...and last night Eloise complimented on how cute you and Beca were when she saw the two of you slow dancing with one another."

Chloe swallowed nervously when her mum stopped, she was wondering what possible question she was going to ask because there was a large selection she could choose from. Chloe remained silent, her eyes now avoiding her mothers and watching the TV although she wasn't actually listening to it.

"What I'm trying to ask you is are you and Beca an item? Is that what they call it nowadays?"

Chloe gave her mother one simple, yet painful answer, but it was the truth. "No."

" _Chloe_...you know we hate lying in this house, and we couldn't think of anyone more perfect for you than Bec-" Chloe turned to her mother now, eyes burning with tears, she knew Beca was perfect for her, she knew her parents liked her and she knew that Beca was someone who made her happy, but they weren't together and it hurt to say it because it felt like they were, they were closer than anyone she'd ever known plus Beca seemed to have opened up to her, she didn't even do that with her father, or Jesse when she was with him.

"I'm not lying to you, me and Beca...w-we're just friends, mum."

Her mother reached over placing her hand over Chloe's, she wanted to pull away but she was always a sucker for her mums attention so she moved over so that her mum could wrap her arms around her and hold her as though she were just a little girl again, and for a moment it felt like she was. Her mum stroked her hair and let her cry quietly into her dressing gown, whispering softly to her.

"I don't want to be, but I-I don't know how to tell her." Chloe mumbled into her mother's dressing gown, her mother feeling sympathy for her child, she knew how scary it could be taking a chance on someone, handing them their heart and giving them the access to break it over and over again. But she hated seeing Chloe cry, she had always been a bright and happy child, she loved too much but she always seemed to get the love in return, maybe not exactly romantic love but she loved her friends and even though her parents didn't like them, they could see that they loved her dearly back. Her mother knew Chloe had dated a few people, the name Tom popping up when she was at Barden, but she'd never told them anything about him or if she truly cared for the boy. But they knew about Beca as soon as Chloe had stumbled upon her, for weeks it was Beca this and Beca that. They knew more about the fiery brunette before they'd even met her in person.

"You'll find the right time sweetheart, I see the way you are with one another and unless she's still hung up on that Jesse boy, there is always a big chance she'll say yes. Sometimes in certain situations, you've got to follow your heart, this is one of them." Chloe's mum whispered, wary that Beca was only sleeping a floor away. She wiped away Chloe's tears and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead, cradling her daughters face in her hand. She wanted to say that she could see how much Beca loved Chloe but it was always hard to tell with the brunette, she knew that she was a closed off person, she didn't exactly show a lot of emotion and the fact that she hated hugging just made it harder for her to tell. They rarely saw Beca, but they knew that Beca did love her in a least some sort of way otherwise she wouldn't have agreed to come away, she wouldn't have let Chloe dance with her and she wouldn't have let the redhead sleep in her bed.

"I-I guess." Chloe sniffled, sitting up straight, leaving her mothers arms, feeling slightly better. "You won't tell her will you?"

Chloe's mum let out a laugh and brushed Chloe's hair down, a smile on her face. "No, Chloe. That's not my place, I'm not some teenager wanting to spread gossip."

"Hey guys." A groggy voice spoke up making Chloe wipe her face fast and sit up straight to greet Beca with a smile as her mother did too. Beca wasn't stupid she could see Chloe had been crying, tears just made her blue eyes shine brighter than usual but Beca would just ask Chloe about it once it was just her and the redhead.

"Good morning, Beca. Did you sleep well?" Charlotte asked, a smile still beaming on her face as though someone had told her Chloe was going to come back home and live with her parents. Beca glanced at Chloe before she answered, unease in her stomach but she looked back to Mrs Beale with a small smile.

"Like a baby, Mrs B." Beca moved around the sofa and took a seat beside Chloe, looking her up and down to see if she'd somehow hurt herself, but she seemed in perfect condition. Beca knew it must've been something someone had said or some news that she'd gotten, Chloe had watched the brunette sit down beside her, watching her as she tried to suss out what was wrong. Chloe thought Beca could be a detective if she really wanted, the way she found whatever Amy was hiding in minutes was amazing and she wasn't all good with emotions, something that seem to go well with detectives nowadays, Beca's eyes finally met hers and she gave her a soft smile, ignoring the worried eyes. "I was going to wait until your mum left the room, but what's wrong?"

"Nothing, mum was just telling me a story about grampy. I miss him everyday." Chloe felt bad using her dead grandfather as a way to hide the truth but she wasn't ready to tell Beca right now, not here. Plus she was still thinking about Calamity's question for Beca, she wasn't sure what Beca was going to say. She didn't exactly say she was going to say no last night, she just said she didn't love her. A frown came upon Beca's face but she didn't carry on, she sniffed the air and hummed in delight.

"I smell breakfast." Beca smiled, her stomach rumbling. She didn't really have much food last night and the thought of a mouth-watering full plate of breakfast made her stomach want to leap for the food, Chloe let a laugh escape glancing over to the kitchen.

"Fat chance your going to be able to get some, dad only cooks for himself. He likes to eat most of the food before we can, although he should be going on a diet," Chloe grumbled, her mother humming in agreement and Chloe looked back to Beca. "Come on, we'll see what's left, I'm starving."

"You see that's what I love about you, Beale. You love food just as much as me." Beca bumped her shoulder as they walked and Chloe felt her heart thud heavily in her chest at Beca's words, wondering if there was more behind them but she didn't have time to suss it out because Beca had already moved fast towards the kitchen, singing lightly. Chloe smiled after her, she always loved to listen to Beca's voice, it was so gentle and calming that it was hard to ever join in, not wanting to ruin the sweet sound but she knew Beca preferred it when it wasn't just her singing so she sung along with her as they searched the fridge and cupboard for things they could put together for a breakfast. Beca squealed in excitement, something Chloe had never heard her do and she snapped towards her terrified that there was a serial killer in the kitchen or something but Beca was grasping a box of _Pop Tarts_ , looking at Chloe with one of the biggest smile she'd ever seen. "Please, please, please can we eat these Chlo? I haven't had them in so long and I can never find them around the base, it's like their anti-pop tarts."

Chloe giggled and headed over, leaning over Beca to pull the toaster out of the cupboard it was in, brushing Beca as she moved, goosebumps rising on her arm but she cleared her throat and plugged in the toaster gesturing to Beca, then the toaster. "Who would I be if I deprived you of your Pop Tarts?" 

Beca grinned, quickly tearing open the package and popping them into the toaster and glancing at Chloe. "A monster, but thankfully you're like a little sunshine princess, all happy and bright and you wouldn't leave a teeny brunette pop tartless." Beca smirked, waiting patiently for the Pop Tarts whilst Chloe watched her, an eyebrow arched.

"Why do you always think I'm so happy?"

"Because you are, you're basically a ball of happiness, Emily is following your lead, she's almost as bubbly as you. But I like it, we're that classic pair, happy and soft and grumpy and moody." Beca smiled up at her, jumping when the pop tarts burst up and Beca quickly snatched up a plate, placing the two pop tarts on a plate, Chloe thought about Beca's words, it was true, they were basically grumpy and happy but nowadays Beca seemed happier and Chloe couldn't help but love it.


	12. Chapter 12

It felt weird to get back into rehearsals, it was as though they'd never left expect from the great big group hug Beca and Chloe were tackled with when they stepped back into the base, exhausted from packing then flying then returning to their temporary home. It was a little overwhelming but they were as happy to see the Bella's as much as they were to see them. It was a bundle of laughs and gossip, wanting to know what kind of rich stuff they got up too, they always loved to know how Chloe lived the rich life, most of them coming from average money backgrounds. Chloe was the one to spill about the party and the dresses, singing and dancing, Beca was quick enough to ask her to keep it quiet, she knew Amy would find the dancing part interesting, she'd always fancied the idea of Beca finally being with Chloe and Beca just merely talking about Chloe gives the Australian a wave of happiness. Amy pulled her aside in one quick motion whilst Chloe headed off with the others, wanting to drop off her suitcase, she'd glanced over her shoulder for Beca when she realised the brunette was missing, furrowing her brows when she noticed Amy and Beca had stopped.

"Uh, go on ahead, I'll meet you guys in the trailer!" Beca called, giving Chloe a reassuring smile and the ginger turned her head and continued on towards the trailers. Beca finally turned around to the blonde, hand still clasped around her suitcase handle. "Well, Amy?" Beca said impatiently, she was tired and just wanted to take a nap before lunch, Amy rolled her eyes as though Beca should know what she wanted to talk about.

"Well Beca, did you decide on what you were going to do with the whole Calamity situation? Because we all know you've got the hots for Chloe." Amy sighed, but a smirk appeared on her face as she watched Beca squirm in embarrassment, trying to hide the fact that it was true but Amy saw right through her walls. Besides she'd already noticed the toner back in Barden. The other Bella's hadn't really taken notice that Beca reciprocated the feelings, they just all knew Chloe would go doe-eyed whenever Beca was near, besides Chloe openly admitted it to them when they asked. But it was only recently that they'd noticed the lack of space Beca would put between her and Chloe and the way she was glowing with happiness when she returned from their weekend away, the way that Chloe seemed to be the only one Beca actually liked hugging. It all pieced together for them and they were determined for the pair to finally be a couple. Beca hesitated, she hadn't really thought about it until the night before, Chloe's words echoing in her mind. 

"I will be going to tell Calamity later that I can't go on a date with her." Beca finally decided and Amy instantly wrapped her arms around the petite brunette lifting her off of her feet in glee. Beca groaning as the blonde held tightly to her before finally putting her down, a broad smile smeared over her face.

"Does that mean you'll finally tell Chloe how in love with her you've been since Barden?" Amy grinned and Beca felt her cheeks heat up again, ducking her head to hide it and clearing her throat before spinning around to her suitcase and taking a hold of it again and starting to walk off. Beca smiled when she heard Fat Amy call after her, running to her side with a groan, hating running more than most things in life.

" _Yes_ Amy, that means I'm finally going to tell Chloe how I feel," Beca said without turning her head towards Amy and she could immediately sense the Australian about to hug her again and Beca practically leaped away, holding her index finger up at Fat Amy, who'd grabbed the air for a hug, expecting it to have been Beca moments ago. "Dude! No more hugging!"

"Aw your a buzz kill, I'm just happy for you." Amy moaned, a sad expression forming on her face as she and Beca returned to walking back to the trailer. The gravel they walked on gritting against their sneakers as they went, the sound filling the silence as Beca went into thought on how she would possibly tell Chloe how she feels, she had things to worry about like the fact that this could either take their relationship to another level or completely shatter it. If this went wrong Aubrey would most likely kill her, she was almost positive she'd be too embarrassed to even look at Chloe knowing that Chloe knew how she felt and didn't return those feelings, they would be all messed up for the performances because Beca would end up doing the mixes alone and Chloe would end up doing the choreography with Aubrey's help instead, which was never good, they might end up doing the sign routine again. So in a whole she was petrified. "Will you ask her on a date?"

The Australians voice took her from her trail of thought and she glanced at the floor, she didn't know why she found it so hard to look into people's eyes, it was just something she was never too good at until she met Chloe. But that's because Chloe's eyes were like crystals, so beautiful it was hard to look away and hard not to fall into them she knew for certain that if she could look into anyone's eyes for the rest of her life, it wouldn't be some dreamy famous actor that all the girls gush over, it would be Chloe's wide, bright, loving eyes.

"No, not unless she feels the same way. For now, I'm just going to stick with telling her what I've been too afraid of saying for five years, just don't go telling the others." Beca warned her, now meeting her eyes to give her an intense glare, knowing she was a blabber mouth when it came to things that involved her and Chloe. Fat Amy twisted an imaginary key over her mouth.

"Told you, I'm the keeper of secrets." Amy smiled, Beca returned one as they finally reached the trailer. Beca covered her mouth as she yawned, Fat Amy helping her lift her suitcase. Beca wasn't surprised when she saw The Bella's all scattered around the trailer. Cynthia-Rose leaning against the counter sneaking glances at Stacie as she had from day one, Flo was squished on the couch between Jessica and Ashley who were talking around the girl. Emily had gotten to her feet the moment Beca and Amy had returned, Beca knew that Emily's favourite Bella's were her, Chloe and Amy, she'd stated it when she was drunk on several occasions. Beca had to guess that Aubrey was with Chloe or she was in the bathroom, so Beca gave the Bella's a quick smile, wanting to sleep.

"I'm just going to take a little nap," Beca told them before they all returned to their gibbering. Beca gave Emily's arm a friendly squeeze, she hadn't got to talk to the tall drink of water since she got back. "How are you?"

"Well, uh, I miss Benji. I missed you and Chloe just as much, you guys should never leave, if it wasn't for Amy I'd probably be sat alone," Emily spoke as she lowered her voice wary of the other Bella's. "But I'd probably say I'm doing better than you right now, you look like your going to pass out. Oh god should I get you some water?" Emily had moved fast it was like she'd become some kind of cheetah and before Beca could protest she had Chloe's yellow cup pressed into her hands. 

"Legacy...I'm fine, I'm just exhausted from the long flight, besides I'm naturally pale, it looks like I'm going to pass out all the time." Beca smirked, giving the young girl a kind nudge and Emily let out a nervous laugh, nodding quickly.

"Right well I'd like you to be well rested so I'll let you sleep, we can catch up later." Emily said sweetly and Beca could hardly believe that Emily and Chloe weren't related, they were too precious for this world. Beca smiled gratefully at the brunette, giving her a gentle nod to agree that they would catch up later and she turned for hers and Chloe's bedroom, her eyelids feeling heavier by the minute. If Beca wasn't so exhausted she would have listened to whatever Aubrey and Chloe were bickering about in her room, but she just wanted sleep so she pushed open the door, giving Chloe a small smile as they two girls automatically closed their mouths and stopped unpacking at the girls arrival.

"What did Amy wa-is that my cup?" Chloe asked, she'd kept that cup in perfect condition since Barden, it was sentimental and something that always gave her a good memory and it was known to all of the Bella's that that was Chloe's cup, you never saw anyone else using it. So when she saw it in Beca's hands her heart jumped a little, unsure of how to react. She wouldn't be mad, the cup was special to her _because_ of Beca, she was just a little scared that the brunette could damage it. Beca glanced down at the cup Legacy had put in her hands and she let out a little, quiet "Oh."

"Sorry, uh Legacy thought I needed some water, I didn't realise it was in your cup, here." Beca said, feeling bad for touching it. She knew how precious the cup was to Chloe. But to her surprise Chloe shook her head, pushing the cup back into Beca's hands.

"You can use it, just...be careful with it, it's special."

Beca bowed her head as a smile crossed her face, god she hoped Chloe was still this sweet to her when she spilled how she felt later on. "Thanks...I just came in here to take a nap, the whole way to the airport and the flight and getting back here has knocked the energy out of me."

Chloe took her clothes from Aubrey's hands and folded them in two swift movements, placing them quickly in her wardrobe and letting her eyes flicker back to Beca as the brunette spoke. Chloe felt tired too but she knew she wasn't going to sleep during the day, she hated doing it but she knew Beca was pretty much known for taking naps. "Then me and Aubrey will get out of your hair and let you sleep." Chloe smiled, speaking softly as Beca took a sip from the yellow cup, placing it on the dresser between hers and Chloe's bed and slipping into the cool blankets, snuggling down.

"Chloe we were almost done!" Aubrey sighed in annoyance, glancing at Beca then back to Chloe who shrugged, placing her hands on Aubrey's shoulders and manoeuvring the blonde out of the room as she grumbled miserably.

"Beca's rest is more important, besides I can just do the rest later." Beca heard Chloe say as she left the room, taking Aubrey with her but she heard a quick skip of shoes and Chloe popped her head around into the doorway, reaching for the door handle to close it, pausing before she closed it fully. "Nap well." She added a little wink before closing the door as softly as possible and Beca couldn't help but smile, she was sure Chloe could just wink at someone and they'd fall in love.

* * *

Beca woke up to a calming silence, not mutter of voices as she had expected and not music playing it was just quiet. Which Beca knew only meant that they'd gone out, she couldn't help feel a little sad that none of them had woken her to ask if she wanted to come along too, although it was always a bad idea to wake her up, she always got aggressive when she was grumpy and tired. Beca stretched as she sat up, squinting around the room, she had no idea what time it was but she knew she hadn't been asleep too long otherwise she'd hear Chloe's sing song voice echoing around the trailer besides she'd noticed that Chloe must've came in and finished off packing her clothes away, Beca's along with them even though she'd insisted that she'd just keep them in her suitcase. Beca staggered out of bed, looking at herself in the full length mirror, furrowing her brows as she decided whether or not to change but she'd only been wearing those clothes since this morning so she just waved it off and walked out of the bedroom, eyes landing on the yellow cup which had been at her beside and was now washed up on the draining board, she gathered that was Chloe's doing too.

Beca didn't bother lingering around the trailer, she knew she'd have to go and find Calamity or the girl would probably think she was ignoring her and then things would get even more awkward and Beca would probably end up backing out. She didn't bother locking the trailer, none of the Bella's ever did, it was unlikely that someone would break into their trailer when it wasn't holding any precious cargo nor was it likely that they'd get burgled at a military base. Beca was an introvert, meaning she preferred avoiding awkward conversations and she'd rather have her headphones on and get lost in her mixing world, but she knew she had to give Calamity an answer and besides, she hadn't even known the girl that long so it wouldn't be too hard. But the nevertheless she went over how she was going to say it in her head without sounding like an asshole or revealing that she loved Chloe. Beca spotted Calamity with her fellow band members as they headed in a direction Beca hadn't been in before but Beca speed walked after them and when she was close enough she called.

"Calamity slow down would you?!" The brunettes voice pulled Calamity to a stop as she turned around a bright smile on her face as she waited for Beca to catch up, ushering her friends to head on without her.

"She returns! I was wondering whether you'd came back at all. Then I asked your friend Chloe where you were and she said you were taking a nap, heaven knows I could use one of those today." Calamity chuckled, Beca guessed she'd come from rehearsals. "How was life in the princesses house?" Beca frowned at her words unsure what she meant and Calamity rolled her eyes, "Reds place?"

Beca's eyebrows shot up, "Oh. Well it was nice, the Beales are some of my favourite people. H-how was your weekend?" Beca didn't want to straight up announce she didn't want to go on a date with Calamity, she at least wanted the woman to bring it up herself rather than make Calamity question what she was talking about just in case she'd forgotten the question. Calamity huffed, letting out a puff of air.

"We've been practising non-stop all weekend, I think I'll give the girls and I a break tomorrow...meaning if you've decided on whether or not you want to go on that date...we can go tomorrow?" Beca's smile faltered when she saw the flicker of hope in Calamity's eyes, she hated being the person to shatter that hope.

"Calamity...I like you, I do and that's saying something because I hate almost everyone. But I can't go on that date with you, I'm sorry." Beca apologised, the guilt filling her almost immediately, she couldn't bring herself to look into Calamity's sad eyes so she trained her eyes on the ground. Beca only looked up when she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder causing her to look up.

"It's fine, I...I only liked you as a friend too I just...I wanted to get Charity out of my mind." Beca's eyes dark eyes widened when Calamity spoke, a smile stretching on her face, she thought she'd felt a spark between those two when she was hanging around with them. "You'd best not go telling her though, I haven't really told anyone about it."

"I won't, believe me." Beca smirked, wondering if she should tell Calamity about her feelings for Chloe. "Y-you were right you know, when you asked me if I had any feelings for Chloe or uh, Red as you like to call her. I do, that's why I can't go on a date with you...not when...not when I'm completely in love with that nerd." Beca rubbed her arm with her hand nervously, she'd never told anyone she was in love with Chloe, not even Amy. She'd just simply told her she had a little crush on the redhead. Calamity gave her a sympathetic smile, knowing how she felt.

"If it makes you any better, Chloe was totally jealous of you and I hanging around one another." Calamity told her, Beca felt her cheeks heat up, why on earth would Chloe be jealous? How did she even get Chloe jealous? Why didn't Chloe tell her? "But I can see you're completely oblivious to Red's thing for you, she's practically ogling you every time she looks at you."

"I bet Charity was jealous too." Beca smirked, raising her hand to high five Calamity who gladly accepted laughing lightly. "But I'd best go find the others, do you know where they went?"

Calamity nodded, "Me too and uh, they went near the training grounds, I heard one of them talking about a hot guy?"

Beca frowned at that, she hoped Chloe wasn't going to see Chicago although she'd stated that she had no interest in the guy so it couldn't be. It was most likely for Amy, then again she was still married to Bumper meaning she wasn't going to be looking for some fun, so Beca guessed it was Stacie, she was single and always ready to mingle. "Thanks, I'll see you around."

"Say hello to Red for me!" Calamity called even though she knew Chloe wouldn't want a greeting from the band member. Beca gave her a quick nod before heading off in the opposite direction, trying to remember where the training grounds were, they'd been to several around the base, the race track, the indoor gym, the outdoor obstacles, they were one of the ones the Bella's visited most so she headed in that direction hoping for the best. She'd tell Chloe about her feelings tonight.

 


	13. Chapter 13

"Short stack!" Amy exclaimed her voice booming across the training obstacles where Stacie was tilting her neck at the men who were exercising, Flo playing with something in her hands, Emily seemed a little nervous next to Chloe who'd flipped around at Amy's call, knowing who short stack was, Aubrey had her arms folded as she scolded Stacie who just gave Aubrey an innocent look and Aubrey let her get away with it. Beca couldn't see Jessica and Ashley guessing they'd either gone to the bathroom or elsewhere, Lilly was in the corner of the training muttering something that no one would ever hear by herself and Cynthia was frowning upon Stacie's ogling eyes for the soldiers. Amy moved forward eagerly, not keeping her voice down when she continued to shout even though Beca was only a few feet away from her now. "What did you say yes? Did you ruin my _bhloe_ dreams?"

Beca rolled her eyes at the nicknames and let out a sigh, her eyes momentarily shifted to Chloe who acted like she wasn't listening but Beca could tell she was, Emily nibbling her nails as she waited for the answer. She wondered why Emily was such a bucket of nerves when it was just a simple question but Beca responded loud enough for each of the Bella's to hear, knowing Amy had probably told them all by now. "I said no."

Amy spun to the others who were looking now and she jumped fist pumping the air excitedly, Emily even let out an excited squeak her hand shooting to Chloe's wrist giving it a tight squeeze, Beca noticed the relief on Chloe's face and she just gave the girl a small smile. The way Chloe was looking at her; the way she reacted it was hard to think that Chloe didn't like her back, but her mind would always remind her that Chloe looks at everyone with a warm smile, it was just part of her personality as having a bitch face was in her own personality. Beca was too focused on Chloe to realise the Australian running for her lifting her up in one swift movement, Beca felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs as she let out a cry not expecting the tackle, struggling against Amy's hold but not going anywhere.

" _Dude_ put me down!" Beca yelled, hitting Amy's hands as they held tightly to Beca's waist making her face flood red from embarrassment, especially when she heard her fellow Bella's giggle, Chloe amongst them. Amy had even turned a few of the training soldiers heads wanting to know what all the noise was about, smirking when they saw Beca squirming to be put down eventually giving up and switching to threatening. "I will tear down your stupid trailer if you don't put me down! I mean it, you'll be sleeping in the rain!" 

Amy chuckled at Beca's threats, "But it isn't raining..."

Beca let out a frustrated growl, fists clenched and the Bella's knew she was about to blow. Chloe stepped forwards, giving Fat Amy a soft glare, warning her with her eyes instead of words which was something that scared Fat Amy the most, she knew what Chloe was like when she was mad and it wasn't something you'd want to mess with. 

"Put her down, Amy." Chloe said sternly, Amy looked to Beca who was a deep red in anger, glaring at Amy like she'd just ripped her laptop away from her. Amy shrugged and lowered Beca to the ground, the brunette jumping to Chloe's side the moment her feet touched the ground, her body shaking with anger knowing if she didn't move away from the blonde she'd lose it. That was one thing Beca couldn't stand, Fat Amy's over excitement it was too much for Beca to handle especially when she went to touch Beca. She loved Amy but sometimes she wondered how she put up with sharing a room with her for four years. Beca huffed, folding her arms, her face soon returning to her natural pale skin.

"I was just excited." Amy uttered under her breath glancing at the floor, then up at Beca who just sighed, having nothing else to say. Stacie was the one to cut in next even though Aubrey attempted to stop her.

" _So_...how did she take it? Was she heartbroken? _Destroyed_? Begging you to change your mind?" Stacie questioned eagerly, wanting all the details as usual and Beca rubbed the nape of her neck, she was glad Calamity never reacted like any of those, if she had she was sure she probably would've changed her mind just to stop seeming mean and crushing the girls hopes.

"None of those, she was a little disappointed but uh," Beca couldn't tell them why she wasn't heartbroken, she'd promised to keep her mouth shut so she just shrugged. "I had my to say no and she had her reasons for not being crushed by it."

"What were your reasons for saying no?" Amy asked, wiggling her eyebrows knowing the answer and Beca shot her a glare to shut up and she stopped her eyebrows and didn't pester on but she knew the others were wondering that two, Beca glanced at Chloe, seeing if she was interested too and it looked like she was the one who wanted to know the most but there was no way Beca was telling her here. Beca held up her hands.

"I never see you guys quizzing Stacie on why she turns guys down!" Beca claimed defensively, changing the subject and staring expectantly at the girls and they all shrugged and eyed up Stacie.

"That's because I hardly ever turn down guys, unless they aren't of my liking...you know for several reasons, rumors on how awful they are in bed, or if their clingy, I hate those ones...or their appearance, as well as if their just some jerk." Stacie told them, chewing her gum as they looked at her then back to Beca.

"Exactly whereas from what it looks like Calamity is nice...she likes you back, she's a leader, just like you. She seems to have a personality just like yours loving all those dark things, she's perfect for you." Aubrey stated, Beca saw Chloe tense up beside her, Beca knew she only did that when she was upset. Beca's eyes swept over Chloe her expression blank now, making it hard for Beca to at least attempt to read her. "What possible reason could you have to say no? Unless your toner for Jesse is back again."

"Jesus christ Aubrey, you're so obsessed with me and Jesse. We're over, finished! I'm the one that ended it with him!" Beca snapped, she was fed up of people thinking she was back with Jesse, she hated having the Bella's needing to know every inch of her personal life. "You have a completely different perspective of perfect for me than I do, maybe I don't want someone like me, I've known Calamity for a few weeks, that doesn't make us perfect for one another in anyway, so would you just shut up!"

Beca's burst of anger immediately cut down any questions that the other Bella's were going to pester her with, they knew Beca had reached her limit and they all avoided her eyes as much as they could, they all hated angry Beca. Chloe was only one who could talk without getting her head bit off.

"Beca, I'm sure they didn't mea-"

Beca cut her off as she grabbed Chloe's hand, making the redhead silent almost instantly eyes moving from their hands to Beca's eyes, filled with something other than anger. "Come with me." Beca didn't exactly give her a choice because she'd already latched hold of Chloe's hand and just after her words she'd started pulling Chloe along behind her, something in her stride as she moved out of view of the Bella's, Chloe having to speed up little to keep up with Beca until the brunette stopped, causing Chloe to stop with her, they were beside the side of the hanger, away from the others and Chloe glanced around wondering if Beca had meant to show her something.

"Wha-" Chloe was cut of by Beca's soft lips crashing into hers, making Chloe's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, feeling a mixture of emotions from fear to excitement, fear that this wasn't real and excitement for the fact that Beca effin Mitchell was kissing her. Chloe almost immediately returned the kiss, moving her hands from where they'd rested in surprise on Beca's arms to her face, moving a hand behind Beca's neck to kiss her just as hard as Beca was kissing her, showing her she felt it too. Chloe could feel Beca's shallow breaths as they split apart to take a breath before locking eyes, soft smiles playing on their lips and this time it was Chloe who caused Beca to stumble back against the steel side in surprise, kissing her as passionately as she possibly could, wishing that it would last forever, not wanting to be pulled away from this perfect moment. Chloe felt like her entire senses had heightened Beca's perfume filling her nose, the sweet smell of the coconut shampoo Beca always used making her heart race a little faster than it already was, her hands soon drifted to Beca's hair, Beca's hands pressing Chloe flush against her. It almost felt like one of those kisses you see from the movies, where one been away from the other for so long that the kiss is just longing and desperate. It was only the sound of someone approaching that made the pair spilt otherwise they weren't exactly sure how long that kiss could have lasted. 

Beca was almost immediately hit with a wave of embarrassment, facing flushing a dark red as she stuttered and stammered to explain herself, this Beca only made Chloe giggle softly, not feeling embarrassed that Beca kissed her at all, instead she couldn't have been any happier than she was in this exact moment. "I-I uh...I just, I really wanted to do that. F-for like um years, I was going to tell you how I um feel about you later. But...but I just couldn't wait." Chloe could see that Beca was feeling awkward just by the way Beca was avoiding her eyes and Chloe took both of Beca's hands, a pearly smile on her face as she watched her flustered brunette.

"You don't need to explain Becs, that was amazing...I...I always wondered if you'd felt the same way, but then you got with Jesse a-and I just figured you didn't, so like an idiot I pined after you for years," Now it was Chloe's turn to look away, her cheeks blushing as Beca's deep blue eyes fixed on her, Chloe sucked in a breath, plucking the courage to finally say it. "Since the moment you came onto that stage and sung that song with my special cup, I have been so damn in love with you that sometimes I think it's totes crazy how you haven't noticed."

Beca felt her eyes well with tears for the first time in a long time they were happy tears and she lurched forward, pressing her lips to Chloe's once more, ignoring the fact that she was practically rubbing her tears over Chloe's face. Beca rested her forehead against Chloe's, catching her breath, still trying to take in that Chloe reciprocated her feelings. Chloe stepped away nervously, making Beca look at her scared she was going to say something like they couldn't be together, but she simply raised an eyebrow expectantly.

"Don't you love me back?"

Beca's eyes widened, wondering how Chloe could think that. "Chloe damn Beale I've been repressing my feelings for you for three freakin years, I don't love people it's not something I ever thought I was able to do...I barely love my family, but having you in my life...it showed that I can love someone and that I can love to the point where my heart just soars just being near you, so of course I love you, what do you think I kissed you for?" Beca smirked playfully, poking Chloe gently. She could see the tears rolling down Chloe's cheeks, she knew how hard it was for Beca to openly admit she cared and Chloe stepped forward and in one stride, her arms were trapping Beca in a hug, burying her face in Beca's shoulder, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.  Beca smiled against the girl, there was nowhere she'd rather be that in Chloe's arms, she slipped her arms around Chloe's middle. "I've wanted to tell you for _so_ long Chlo."

Chloe held her tighter at her words, pushing her head to rest against Beca's, her lips close to Beca's ear. "So have I, Becs. My mum even knew about it."

Beca pulled away slightly, arms still around Chloe but she looked at Chloe with wide eyes. "Your mum knew you liked me? How did she keep that to herself? That woman loves gossip."

Chloe giggled, her cheeks suddenly tinting red in embarrassment, "She saw me in your bed and she um, she thought we were together," Beca's cheeks burned at that, she hadn't thought of Mrs B coming to check on them whilst they slept. "That was what I was talking with her about, before you came downstairs..."

"The reason why you were crying?" Beca's eyebrows knitted together feeling guilty, she didn't mean to make Chloe cry, she barely realised she was hurting Chloe at all. "Chlo, you should've just confessed."

Chloe looked up at her, her stomach twisting. "I couldn't risk losing you, Becs. We're so close and I didn't want to scare you off, you're not exactly a full emotion kind of girl. You probably would've scattered off if I even mentioned the word love."

Beca knew that was true, she hated anyone bringing up feelings, she'd get uncomfortable and end up wanting to be anywhere but where she was right now. Even with Amy talking about her and Bumper, she hated it. It was all too mushy for her to handle, plus many conversations about feelings end in tears and Beca was awful with someone when they cried. Beca released Chloe, rubbing her neck anxiously. "Amy knows about my toner for you, she got me drunk one night and she quizzed me until I spilled."

Chloe chuckled, "That explains all the pushing us together, why you get made when she tried to get you to talk about your feelings...and her weird obsession with Bhloe."

Beca cringed at the nickname. "I begged her to find another name but she insisted on it."

"Well if it makes you feel better Aubrey knows, Stacie too..." Chloe shrugged, "I'm not good at keeping my feelings bottled up like you."

"Ah, it explains Aubrey's aggressive glares although I think she'd probably do that whether she knew about it or not." Beca muttered, glancing down at the floor, tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling up at Chloe. "I'm happy you know, Chlo."

Chloe reached out to give Beca's hand a squeeze, a warm smile playing on her lips as she looked at her brunette who was a bundle of nerves like usual when she was with her. "I'm glad you told me too, who knows how long I could keep it in."


End file.
